A LONDON Metropolitan University student who stabbed a rap star in the neck with a broken bottle was jailed for eight years today.

Anthony Jones, 26, who was studying for a masters in business at the Holloway-based university, savagely attacked chart-topper Professor Green in the trendy Cargo nightclub in Shoreditch.

Professor Green fled the venue drenched in blood and clutching a 15cm wound next on his neck - where he has a distinctive tattoo of the word “lucky”.

The singer, also 26, whose hit single “I Need You Tonight” reached number three in April last year, feared he was dying and phoned both his mother and grandmother to say “goodbye”.

Jones, of Ashdale House, on the Woodberry Down Estate, Finsbury Park, who has previous convictions for carrying knives, targeted the star - real name Stephen Manderson - after accusing him of “jostling” a friend.

Last October, a jury at Snaresbrook Crown Court convicted Jones of wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm - which carries the maximum of life imprisonment.

Judge John Lafferty told the thug: “There was an altercation in the Cargo nightclub involving Stephen Manderson, your friend and yourself.

“I accept the complainant’s version of events.

“After what appears to have been an accidental bumping into your friend, you intervened and you sought to extract an apology from the complainant, who refused to apologise.

“That incident ended - it clearly rankled with you because what you then did was you equipped yourself with a bottle that was broken.

“You went looking for the victim.

“Without warning or any provocation at that stage you struck the left side of the complainant’s face and neck and inflicted a very serious injury.

“This was a premeditated attack. The initial incident, whatever the rights and wrongs of that, was over.

You had no need to go looking for the complainant. You went looking for him in order to exact revenge to what you perceived to be a slight in his behaviour for failing to apologise to your friend.”

Jones had denied bottling Professor Green and said his victim was the aggressor, claiming he said: “Do you know who I am?”.

But Melanie Simpson, for Jones, said he now accepted he was guilty of the stabbing.

“Following the jurors’ verdict, I went down to see Mr Jones in the cells, and Mr Jones explained to me that he did cause the injury to Mr Manderson,” said the barrister.

“Mr Jones says that he told the probation officer that he was a coward and he found it hard to admit what he had done.”

She said the graduate, who also worked for A1 Marketing in Old Street, had also learned that his grandmother was suffering from cancer.

“At the time this offence took place, his grandmother had been diagnosed with cancer,” said Miss Simpson.

“She was very ill and Mr Jones had taken this very badly.

“He was drinking, smoking cannabis and suffering from depression.”

Miss Simpson said Jones’ grandmother had died on Boxing Day while he had been on remand awaiting sentence.

Jones was convicted of wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm.