A 14-year-old boy who stabbed a customer in a Stevenage pub will spend four years in a detention centre.

The boy from Stevenage, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was sentenced at St Albans Crown Court on Thursday.

The incident happened on December 15 of last year at The Poachers pub in Bedwell Crescent.

At around 10.30pm the 14-year-old was in the company of an associate.

The pair were asked to leave when the boy got into an altercation with one of the pub’s customers.

He stabbed the victim in the back with a knife he was carrying at the time.

He was arrested later that night and charged with GBH wounding with intent, as well as possession of a bladed article.

He also faced charges of assaulting a police officer on December 18, intimidating the victim on December 21 by staring at him in the same pub, and intimidating him again by goading and gesticulating at him on December 28.

The boy first appeared at St Albans Crown Court on Friday, February 2, where he pleaded guilty to the first three offences.