Caerphilly: Early release prisoner attacked man with scalpel
Shane Lever, aged 34, who has 102 offences to his name, split James Price's lip open with the weapon in the victim's own home just before last Christmas.
Newport Crown Court heard how the assault in the Trecenydd area of Caerphilly 'came out of nowhere'.
Nuhu Gobir, prosecuting, said the victim needed 20 stitches for the wound after he was taken by ambulance to the Grange University Hospital in Cwmbran.
Mr Price lost consciousness following the attack which took place at around 6pm on Tuesday, December 10, 2024.
Lever had gone to visit the victim who he had known for around 15 years.
The defendant had asked Mr Price for the drugs pregabalin and Valium as he was 'struggling with heroin' and needed help.
Mr Gobir told the court that the victim had congratulated Lever because he had just been released early from prison.
He had been freed from jail on December 5 after he was given a six-week custodial sentence for assaulting an emergency worker.
Lever, the prosecution said, had pushed Mr Price who pushed him back before the complainant was cut with the weapon.
'After he was arrested on December 13, he told the police that the victim had lunged at him and punched him in the face,' Mr Gobir said.
'The defendant then became visibly distressed when he was shown pictures of Mr Price's injuries during the interview.'
Lever, of no fixed abode, Caerphilly pleaded guilty to wounding with intent.
Mr Gobir added: 'His previous convictions are littered with offences of violence – 18 in total.'
They include grievous bodily harm, attempted robbery, violent disorder and battery.
Ed Mitchard representing Lever said in mitigation: 'The defendant had a difficult background – his father was murdered when he was a child.
'His mother had three children and two of his siblings have passed away.'
Judge Eugene Egan jailed Lever for 45 months and made him the subject of a five-year restraining order not to contact Mr Price.
The defendant was ordered to pay a statutory victim surcharge following his release from custody.
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