A machete-wielding attacker slashed a man in a phone box and was found with a blade in prison which he made using a razor blade and a toothbrush.
Courtney Daley, 21, attacked a man in Cardiff on January 19 with others when he approached his victim brandishing the machete and rushed towards him.
The offence took place near the Nisa store in Ael-y-Bryn, Llanedeyrn, and resulted in the victim receiving serious lacerations to his arms when he he put them up to protect himself.
A sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court heard Daley also became involved in an altercation while a serving prisoner at HMP Cardiff on May 3.
Prosecutor Tony Trigg told the court the defendant was attacked by another prisoner who brought him to the ground.
As they fell to the floor Daley produced an object and was seen by prison officers to make slashing movements before the pair were separated. The object turned out to be a an improvised shank made of a razor blade melted onto a toothbrush.
Daley also faced charges for two separate burglary incidents. The first took place between October 27 and 30 in Westminster Crescent, Cyncoed, when Daley gained entry to a property by smashing a rear patio door before ransacking the house.
Among the items taken were £500 in cash, two children's play boxes, an iPhone, and car keys. Police were able to link Daley with the crime after a knife removed from the kitchen and left in the bedroom was found to contain his DNA.
The second incident took place between October 28 and 29 when Daley attempted to burgle a property in Rannoch Drive in Lakeside, Cardiff, while the owners were away for the night visiting the Harry Potter studio for a tour.
He gained entry to the property by smashing a patio window but there was no indication he entered the house or had stolen anything. Police were able to trace him after he left a handprint on the kitchen window which contained his DNA.
Daley later pleaded guilty to affray, possession of an offensive weapon, possession of a bladed article in prison, burglary and attempted burglary.
Defence barrister Richard Ace said his client was hoping to make a better life for himself after leaving prison and knew he would have to disassociate himself from former friends and possible move away.
Sentencing, Judge Jeremy Jenkins said: "I have to sentence you for a number of matter, the most serious of which was an attack on a man who was set upon by you and others in a telephone box in the Llandedyrn area of Cardiff.
"You were seen using the machete on him whilst he was trying to evade you and he received serious lacerations to his arm."
Daley, of no fixed abode, was sentenced to a total of three years and 11 months imprisonment.
