After pleading guilty to the charge in Supreme Court, Shawn Derrick Gibson was released on bail but will return for sentence on May 23.

Chief Justice the Hon. Mr. Justice Ward warned Gibson not to think that because he had been released on bail he would escape a custodial sentence.

"I will read the social inquiry report when it has been prepared and everything that is said in mitigation by your counsel,'' he said.

Crown Counsel Mr. Brian Calhoun said the incident occurred on June 6, while Mark McRonald was walking with friends in Par-La-Ville Park.

Gibson approached McRonald after his girlfriend, Christine Marshall, had called McRonald over.

Though it was unclear whether any pushing took place, Gibson then attacked McRonald with a lock knife.

He stabbed McRonald -- who was unarmed -- in the upper abdomen. The blade penetrated two and a half inches, cutting his liver.

Mr. Calhoun said that the operating surgeon reported that three litres of blood had to be suctioned from McRonald's stomach cavity. Had the blade been pushed another few centimetres, the injury could have been fatal.

Gibson's lawyer Mr. Tim Marshall asked for a social inquiry report in light of his client's age.

"The information I have suggests that but for this incident he has turned his life around and is on a positive road,'' Mr. Marshall said.

Mr. Calhoun did not object to the report but added that there were many similar facts in this case to that of Jamaine Quidir Salaam.

Salaam was convicted on February 11 and sentenced to three and a half years for stabbing a man at the Clayhouse Inn on August 29, 1993.

"The only difference is that this one occurred outside, while in the Salaam case it was in a nightclub. They are both 19-years-old and there were allegations of shoving in the Salaam case as there are here.'' Mr. Justice Ward granted Mr. Marshall's request for bail.

Gibson will appear for sentence on May 23.