A knifeman who was arrested at his own wedding is today beginning an eight-year prison sentence.

Simon Noble had been on the run for almost 15 months when officers finally caught up with him on the steps of Blackpool Register Office - ironically a former police station - in September last year.

Noble, 28, was dubbed "Bradford's Most Wanted" on a police internet page following a knife attack on 18-year-old Paul Murphy in August 1998.

After a jury yesterday convicted him of wounding Mr Murphy with intent to do him grievous bodily harm during an incident outside The Pile Bar in Lilycroft Road, Manningham, Noble showed no emotion as Judge Angela Finnerty passed sentence on him.

She noted that shortly before the stabbing Noble had been seen in the pub with a lock-knife in his hand and the blade out.

"You were heard to say someone is going to get it," she said. "That someone was the young man Paul Murphy.

"A young man who was walking home from an evening out who tried to dissuade his friend from arguing with you. Paul Murphy's reward for acting as a peacemaker was to have his throat cut by you using that knife.

"It was a serious injury requiring surgery and 26 stitches," she added.

Judge Finnerty also referred to the impact the attack had had on Mr Murphy's life since.

"It turned his world upside down. He was unable to carry on with his course at college and he has suffered ever since," she said.

She told Noble: "You denied responsibility for causing that injury and tried to avoid standing your trial by absconding.

"When finally apprehended and put on trial before me and this jury you tried to escape responsibility by blaming your former friend Mr Watson."

Noble, of Hall Road, Eccleshill, Bradford, had suggested during his evidence that his then friend, Darren Watson, could have caused the injury to Mr Murphy during the street disturbance.

Watson, also 28, of Rowlestone Rise, Eccleshill, was charged with doing an act tending to impede the prosecution of an offender, but the jury found him not guilty.

The Crown had alleged that he tried to dispose of the blood-stained lock-knife following the stabbing.

After the hearing, Detective Inspector Sheridan Moore, one of the investigating officers from Toller Lane CID, said: "On behalf of Paul Murphy's family, I would like to say that it has been traumatic for them leading up to the trial, particularly with Noble on the run for so long prior to his arrest.

"I think the judge, with the sentence that has been given, has recognised the gravity of the offence and I would expect this sort of term in relation to the offence.

"The family is relieved it is all over and they are celebrating the result, but it will take some time for Mr Murphy to get over what has happened to him."