An alcoholic has been jailed for 16 years after stabbing a boy in the head because he thought he looked like a demon.
Steven Frogg, 51, of Frederick Street, Mansfield, attacked the four-year-old with a carving knife, slashing him five times on his head and twice on his back.
The boy suffered three fractures to his head.
Frogg took a sharp breath on hearing his sentence at Nottingham Crown Court today.
The court heard that Frogg had become paranoid and thought people wanted to kill him.
He also believed his flat was haunted and that there were demons in his home, defence barrister Nicholas Dean QC said.
On the day of the attack in April last year, Frogg became convinced the boy looked like a demon.
The court heard there was no evidence Frogg suffered from a mental illness, but that he was an alcoholic.
On the day of the attack, he was five times over the legal driving limit.
Judge Michael Stokes, sentencing, said that the amount of alcohol Frogg drunk on the day of the attack may have proved fatal to someone who was not used to drinking.
He described the child as being a "lovely little boy" and that the attack was "ferocious and frenzied".
He added that although the boy had made a remarkable recovery, he still suffered psychologically and had nightmares.
