A FAILED asylum seeker who carried out a knife attack on an Iraqi Kurd in Blackburn has been put put behind bars for five years.

Once he has served the custody term, Qasim Mika faces deportation as all avenues of appeal have been exhausted.

The 18-year-old Macedonian, of Walworth Road, London, appeared at Preston Crown Court for sentence, having been found guilty earlier this month of wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm.

The victim of the knife attack, another asylum seeker called Aswar Amin, sustained three stab wounds to the left hand side of his back, left hand side of his chest and to his thigh.

The incident took place outside an address on Devon Road, Blackburn, last November.

It was claimed that Mika had earlier made a suggestive remark to a woman in a taxi.

The defendant claimed at his trial that the woman had turned up at the address, swearing. He alleged that Mr Amin punched him outside and that the man took out a knife.

Mika had suggested: "I would have probably been killed if I did not defend myself."

However, in sentencing Judge Pamela Badley told Mika the jury had rejected his claim of self-defence and the attack was unprovoked.

"I must sentence you on the basis this was a deliberate act," she said. "This matter is so serious that only a custodial sentence can be justified."