A knifeman who came within a millimetre of killing his victim after stabbing him repeatedly in the car park of a Bury St Edmunds pub has been jailed for eight years.
Hari Farlie was told by Judge David Goodin at Ipswich Crown Court that one of the wounds he inflicted had missed a major artery in Joseph Bone's neck by a "millimetre or so."
He said if Mr Bone's carotid artery had been cut he could have "bled out" in the car park of the Moreton Hall pub, where the attack took place last October, and Farlie would have been facing a murder charge.
Michael Crimp, prosecuting, said Mr Bone suffered between three and five stab wounds in the attack and underwent nine hours of surgery after being put in an induced coma.
He said that in addition to the wound, which "pinched" Mr Bone's carotid artery and necessitated him having a vein graft, he suffered a severed artery and nerve damage to his right arm causing mobility issues.
Farlie, of no fixed address, admitted wounding Mr Bone with intent to do him grievous harm.
He also admitted assaulting a prisoner while he was in Norwich prison by pouring a kettle of boiling water on his arm causing second degree burns.
Judge Goodin said Farlie would have to serve two thirds of the eight year sentence before he could be considered for release by the parole board.
He said he would only be released when he was considered to no longer represent a risk to the public and he would then be subject to an extended licence period of four years.
Mr Crimp told the court that Mr Bone had been at the Moreton Hall pub with his brother and some friends on October 25.
During the evening Mr Bone had gone outside where there was a group of around four or five men including one who was armed with a baseball bat.
Farlie was seen to remove a knife from his pocket before approaching Mr Bone and a witness described hearing a "squelching" sound as he attacked him.
Edward Renvoize, for Farlie, said his client had difficulty controlling "flashes of temper" and accepted he was facing a long prison sentence for the two offences he had committed.
After the sentencing, Detective Chief Inspector Ben Clark of Suffolk police said: "This was a targeted attack and the violence used left a young man with life-changing injuries.
"To see Farlie given a jail sentence is extremely satisfying as knife crime and violence will not be tolerated. His conviction demonstrates how seriously the police and the courts take this type of crime."
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