A Devonshire man was sentenced to one year in prison for stabbing another man in the neck.Ezra Ezzard Williams, 24, was found guilty in Supreme Court of unlawfully wounding 48-year-old Preston Mallory during an argument on February 24 in the Cedar Park area last year.After the stabbing, the fight continued with Williams being beaten unconscious, but only he was charged in connection to the incident. He later spent a week in King Edward Memorial Hospital being treated for his injuries.Crown counsel Robert Welling told the court that Williams has an extended list of previous convictions, including multiple convictions for assaulting officers, violently resisting arrest and possessing offensive weapons.He said that although the stabbing was at least in part provoked by an argument, Williams actually left the area during the argument and returned with a knife.“This was clearly an argument, clearly there was some provocation,” Mr Welling said. “But the defendant left the scene. This was not a case where he grabbed a knife close at hand.“This is a man who left the scene, picked up two or three knives and returned. It’s a matter of luck that more damage was not inflicted.“The defendant has a marked tendency to resort to violence during arguments and arm himself with knives.”While Mr Welling suggested a sentence of between three and five years imprisonment, lawyer Shade Subair, representing Williams, told the court not to sentence her client based on his past convictions.She stressed that her client was the person most injured in the incident, and the role of alcohol in causing his behavior.“When he drinks, he becomes agitated, angry and impulsive, but he continues to be a young person and it would not be the first time before this court that a person, after many relapses, has found some final resolve in the end,” Ms Subair said.Addressing the court, Williams acknowledged that he had made mistakes in the past, but told the court that he had not given up on improving himself.“If anyone judged me based on my record, they would think I am a bad, bad boy,” he said. “I just don’t want the negative part of my past to affect my future.“I’m not the best of people, but I’m far, far from the worst of them. I know things are looking dark for me right now but I don’t want to give up.“I feel like every time I take two steps forward, I take three or four backwards. I’m tired of moving backwards. I want to move forward with my life.”Puisne Judge Charles-Etta Simmons sentenced Williams to 12 months imprisonment, with time served taken into account, to be followed by 12 months of probation complete with drugs and alcohol treatment and anger management.“You speak very eloquently,” Ms Simmons said. “I really think you can make something of yourself. It’s now a matter of turning your words into actions.”