A man who stabbed his brother twice at their Ramsey home has avoided prison in what was described as a ‘tremendously sad’ case.

Lauerinn Arran Kaighin, 26, appeared at the Court of General Gaol Delivery on Friday after previously admitting a charge of wounding.

Kaighin, who has Asperger’s Syndrome, stabbed his brother in the chest and thigh, causing injuries which required stitches but were not life-threatening.

Prosecutor Roger Kane said police were called to the family home in Albion Terrace at around 6am on August 27 last year. When officers arrived, there was blood on the bathroom floor and in the hallway.

Kaighin’s brother had been out the previous evening and returned home in the early hours after drinking alcohol.

The brothers had argued over the phone earlier that evening and a confrontation followed when they met during the early hours of August 27.

Kaighin claimed his brother had behaved in a threatening manner and the pair squared up to one another. Kaighin was carrying a knife, which he used to stab his brother twice before his brother restrained him on the floor as other family members intervened.

Kaighin was found by officers in the back garden and arrested. His brother required stitches for stab wounds to the chest and thigh and also suffered a cut to his head.

In a basis of plea accepted by the prosecution, Kaighin said his brother had been the initial aggressor but accepted he had used unreasonable force. He also claimed he had been carrying the knife to harm himself.

Mr Kane also told the court that Kaighin’s brother did not want the prosecution to proceed.

Kaighin’s advocate James Peterson told the court: ‘This is a tremendously sad case.’

Deemster Graeme Cook agreed, describing it as an ‘unusual case’ which ‘comes out of tragic circumstances’.

However, he warned Kaighin: ‘You could have hit a major artery and that would have been the end of your brother.’

Kaighin was sentenced to 21 months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, with supervision.