A TEENAGER repeatedly stabbed an Evesham man during a wedding party at a Coventry hotel as he was being urged on by his uncle to "kill him".

And on the day he was due to stand trial at Warwick Crown Court, John Boy Price finally admitted that was what he was intending to do to victim Nathan Smith.

Price, 17, of Heather, near Coalville, Leicestershire, and his uncle, Ronnie Winson, 25, of Tamworth, had denied the attempted murder of Mr Smith.

The case followed an incident during a wedding party at the Hilton Hotel in Coventry, which was attended by around 700 members of the travellers' community in September 2004.

During an earlier preliminary hearing for Price, the court was told that Winson approached Mr Smith outside the reception area of the hotel and attacked him with a knuckleduster.

Winson hit him several times to the back of the head, resulting in Mr Smith suffering a brain haemorrhage.

As he fell to the floor, Price took a large knife and stabbed him to the right side of his back.

Mr Smith managed to get to his feet and run but was chased and attacked again by Price who stabbed him 'again and again' as Winson shouted "kill him".

Mr Smith managed to get up again and ran out of the hotel, but tripped and was stabbed again a number of times as Winson continued to encourage him.

Mr Smith had four deep stab wounds to his back, one of which had perforated his bowel, said Jane Sarginson, prosecuting at that hearing.

Winson was not arrested until August last year and had been due to stand trial in March, until Price was finally caught in February after a hunt involving a total of ten police forces, so a new trial date was set.

But after discussions with Price before the jury had been sworn in, his barrister David Taylor asked for the indictment to be put to him again - and he changed his plea to guilty of attempted murder.

Winson pleaded guilty to wounding Mr Smith with intent to cause him grievous bodily harm.

At Mr Taylor's request before Price changed his plea, Judge Richard Cole indicated that because of his age and lack of previous convictions, he would "feel compelled to impose a determinate sentence" rather than a life sentence or an indeterminate sentence for the public protection. Judge Cole adjourned the case until October for pre-sentence reports and remanded them in custody.