A KNIFEMAN stabbed a stranger to death as a drunken argument ended in tragedy.

Gerard McKeown, 27, stabbed Middlewich man Gavin McAleer 16 times in a 'frenzy of panic', with one stab piercing his heart.

Mr McAleer, 27, of Longmoss Close, died in an ambulance after the horrific knife attack outside the Vaults pub on Wheelock Street in the town.

McKeown, of Dene Drive in Winsford, admitted murder at Chester Crown Court yesterday, and the court was shown the double-ended claw blade used in the attack.

Leighton Davies, prosecuting, said a drunken argument broke out between the pair just before midnight on September 1 last year.

Mr Davies said: 'They had been in the pub drinking with separate groups of friends when, for some reason, bad feeling boiled up between them.

'Shortly before closing time, that erupted into violence - they confronted each other and started fighting.

'In that fight Gavin McAleer was clearly at a disadvantage because he was not armed and stood no chance. McKeown took the knife from his jacket pocket, drew both blades and inflicted horrific slash and stab wounds.

'The number of wounds and, in particular, the stab wound to the chest which penetrated Gavin's heart, caused massive bleeding.'

The court head McKeown, originally from Liverpool, had grown angry in the pub earlier, claiming that Mr McAleer and his friends were 'starting on him because he was a Scouser'.

George Lawson-Rogers, defending, said Mr McAleer may have thrown the first punch, and that McKeown was originally acting out of self-defence.

He also said that he was carrying the knife, normally used for display purposes, because a man had been threatening him and his Winsford girlfriend.

Mr Lawson-Rogers said: 'McKeown acted out of self-defence.

'When he resorted to using the knife it became unreasonable force.'

More than 30 relatives attended yesterday's hearing. McKeown will be sentenced today, and is expected to serve at least 15 years of a mandatory life-sentence.

After his death, Mr McAleer's relatives released a statement saying: 'The void in our family can never be filled. We are devastated by the loss of our Gav, especially by the senseless way he was taken from us.

'Gavin was a bright, loving and cheeky young man. He was loved very much.'