A man has been jailed for two years after he attempted to murder his classmate at a safari park.

Christopher Blaikie, 24, stabbed Claire Mazzucchi in the neck with a knife during a field trip to the Blair Drummond attraction to study the behaviour of animals.

The psychology student became agitated and had been suffering obsessive thoughts before the attack on March 30 last year.

Ms Mazzucchi, 22, had been living in the same flat as Blaikie but had moved out because she felt uneasy.

During the lunch break Blaikie started banging his cutlery then walked over to Ms Mazzucchi's table where he put his right hand over her face and put her in a headlock.

After making one or two stabbing motions, he struck her once on the left hand side of her neck with a knife.

Another student got up and pulled Blaikie away from the young woman who was severely injured and needed surgery.

A court heard he had gone to doctors to seek help because he knew there was something wrong with him but was not diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome until after the assault.

The former Stirling University student, who has since graduated, admitted the charge of attempted murder when he appeared in court last year.

Sentencing Blaikie at the High Court in Aberdeen on Friday, Lord Turnbull described it as a "difficult" case.

Defence lawyer Lorenzo Alonzi said: "We have a man who has no previous record and who was under considerable stress at that time and who had even identified that he was in a stressful condition and had attempted to get help.

"Regrettably, the help that he did get didn't quite reach the mark."

Blaikie was admitted to hospital on a voluntary basis because he had been experiencing obsessive thoughts but was not diagnosed with Asperger syndrome - a form of autism - until he was admitted to the state hospital after the offence.

He felt that he did not fit in with his peers and had become isolated over the years.

Blaikie was described as an intelligent young man who had never suffered a violent episode before the attack.

There had been no issues between the two former classmates before the incident.

Lord Turnbull jailed Blaikie for two years and ordered him to be the subject of a supervised release order after his term of imprisonment.

The judge said there were also a number of conditions attached to the case.

Blaikie, of Livingston, was told to engage with the services of Number 6, an organisation which helps adults with Asperger's and to meet up with a GP on a regular basis.