A Grantham man who carried out a knife attack after breaking into a hostel in the town has been jailed for seven years at Lincoln Crown Court.
Luke Donnelly was seeking revenge for an earlier fight and smashed his way into the hostel in William Street.
Gary Short, prosecuting, said that Donnelly was involved in an altercation with a man who was visiting his mother at the hostel, with the incident leading to Donnelly being thrown out.
He returned at 6.30am the following morning but found the hostel locked up. He smashed a window to get inside and then began banging on doors before turning his attention on the room of the man’s mother.
Mr Short said Donnelly smashed open the door and confronted the man’s brother, who was staying overnight because his mother feared what might happen after the earlier incident.
Donnelly held a knife to his throat and warned: “I’m going to kill you”.
On discovering he was the brother of the man he has earlier argued with, he said: “That’s even better. When he gets here he’ll find his brother dead.”
Donnelly then appeared to walk away before turning and slashing the brother across the face, leaving him with a gaping wound.
Mr Short said: “It was a deliberate act.”
The court was told that the injured man was taken to hospital where his wound was stitched but he has been left scarred for life. He lives in Sweden and was visiting Grantham to see his mother.
Donnelly left the scene after the stabbing but was arrested later the same morning.
Donnelly, 32, of Portmarnock Way, admitted wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm on November 7.
Judge Michael Heath said: “You were hell bent on revenge for the injuries you had sustained. You caused a gaping slash wound. It could have been much worse. A fraction lower and you could have killed him.”
Mark Watson, defending, said Donnelly spent the previous night sleeping on a doorstep and woke to find his mobile phone and wallet missing. He believed he had left the items at the hostel and decided to go back to look for them.
He added: “He accepts he was in a state of anger. He lost it. He was consumed by anger. He has expressed to me that he is sorry for what he has done.
“He simply wants to keep his head down, do his sentence and get on with his life.”
UPDATE: DI Pete Grayson said: “This is good result for the victim and people living in Grantham. We hope it demonstrates our commitment to tackling serious violence across the county.”
Call 101 to give information or report a crime, or give information on criminals anonymously to independent charity, Crimestoppers on: 0800 555 111.