A FORMER taxi driver has been given a nine-year jail sentence for stabbing his girlfriend in the back and fleeing to Benidorm in a stolen car.

An international arrest warrant was issued for David Grundy, then 53 and originally from Bolton, back in June 2017, when his partner was found with a knife embedded in her lower back.

Later his girlfriend, named by locals as Nicola Anne Walker Houghton, required major surgery to remove the weapon after the attack at their home in Orihuela, on the Costa Brava.

Grundy was thought to have disappeared in a neighbour's car and was eventually tracked down to a bar several miles away in Benidorm.

Her daughter is said to have reported the stabbing to police after finding her mother collapsed in a pool of blood.

Detained on suspicion of attempted murder, Grundy later made an appearance before a specialist domestic violence court in Alicante and has been held in custody ever since.

Prosecutors are reported to have asked for a 14-year prison term for the attack, ahead of a sentencing hearing at the Provincial Court in Alicante.

But it has been confirmed to local newspaper sources that the nine-year tariff was later agreed upon.

Court papers are said to show that Grundy had flown into a rage while she was preparing for a visit to the dentist.

He reportedly tried to kiss her and when she rebuffed him, he stabbed her in the back while she was in the bathroom.

Grundy then fled in a neighbour's car, the court heard, while his girlfriend was managed to crawl to safety and was eventually rushed to hospital for emergency treatment.

The Guardia Civil arrested Grundy, who had been working locally as a taxi driver and gardener, six days later after he was spotted in a Benidorm bar.

Government officials confirmed an international arrest warrant had been issued for the suspect and his photo was released to the Spanish media as part of the manhunt.