A violent Northfleet man who stabbed a friend without provocation has been slapped with an 11 year jail sentence.

Jonathon Dowling, 27 and of Springhead Parkway, repeatedly stabbed the victim at an Overcliffe address in February of this year, shortly after an unrelated assault he committed against a woman.

He was found hiding behind a car shortly after both assaults by officers who used a smartphone app to track his movements.

Dowling pleaded guilty to wounding with intent and assault and was sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court on Tuesday, August 20.

The court heard on February 18, shortly before the horrific stabbing took place, Dowling assaulted a woman who he knew at a Gravesend address after she was unable to give him money when requested.

He hit the victim around the head several times and then drove her to a relative’s house so she could ask them for the money he wanted.

He then left her at the property and drove to Overcliffe, where he stabbed the man in his violent spree.

After Dowling left, the woman told a family member about the assault and Kent Police was called.

Officers took details from the woman and were able to use a smartphone application to track Dowling’s phone.

He was arrested a short time later after he was seen hiding behind a car in Belvedere Road, Gravesend.

The offender was initially arrested for the assault on the woman but, while he was being searched, patrols noticed blood on several of his possessions.

The constables were aware that a stabbing had been reported from a nearby road, The Overcliffe, around 30 minutes earlier and immediately identified him as a suspect for the offence.

It was later established the victim of the stabbing was a man known to Dowling and that a kitchen knife belonging to the first victim had been used to inflict five stab wounds.

Detective Sergeant Mike Champion, Kent Police’s senior investigating officer for the case, said: "Dowling has shown himself to be an extremely dangerous individual who is prepared to use violence and intimidation to get what he wants.

"There can be no tolerance for such offending and I am pleased the court has enforced a strong custodial sentence that means he is no longer a threat to the public."