A teenage asylum seeker who stabbed a man he had "bad feeling with" millimetres from his heart has been jailed and faces deportation.
Soheil Bahmanifard, 18, attacked Amirreza Ramezani outside a centre for asylum seekers in, Stow Hill, Newport, after sneaking into the kitchen and hiding a knife in his trousers.
Cardiff Crown Court heard “bad feeling” had developed between the pair, who are both seeking asylum from Iraq, and the victim had instigated the fight outside The Gap centre following a verbal exchange.
The fight was broken up and Mr Ramezani left, but he came back later because he had plans to meet his girlfriend.
In the meantime, the Bahmanifard went inside to get a knife from the kitchen.
The judge said it was, “the very large and sharp kitchen knife with which you caused the wounds to the victim.”
Bahmanifard was disarmed “with some difficulty” by centre staff, but went back to the kitchen when they were not looking and hid the knife in his trousers.
Judge Neil Bidder said he was satisfied Bahmanifard saw Mr Ramezani approaching, adding: “You rushed out of the door and immediately attacked him repeatedly with the knife.
“You wielded the knife some 10 or so times towards him. It is clear that during the fight you were stabbing upwards towards his stomach and chest.”
The court heard he caused two “very serious” wounds.
The first went through the victim’s left forearm and he was treated at the specialist plastic surgery unit in Morriston Hospital.
Judge Bidder said: “The victim has been left with two large and obvious, and clearly permanent, scars to the forearm.”
The wound to his chest was life-threatening and came within millimetres of his heart, causing a puncture to his lung lining.
In a victim personal statement, Mr Ramezani said he was “very frightened” when the defendant went to get the knife. When he gave evidence, he told the court he thought he was going to die.
He is still having difficulty lifting anything with his injured arm and is having nightmares and flashbacks.
Judge Bidder said: “He has clearly been very significantly affected by his injuries.”
Harry Baker, defending, said his client had no previous convictions and reminded the court he entered guilty pleas to two counts.
He suggested he had an “immature reaction” to what happened outside the centre.
Judge Bidder asked for an age assessment after the complainant said Bahmanifard stated he had lied about his age and said he was 24. The assessment found he was 18.
He added: “I’m afraid I did not see any evidence of any regret when he gave evidence. I saw no evidence of any sort of remorse.”
In his sentencing remarks, the judge said: “Your motivation for this attack was loss of face in the earlier fight. You wanted to avenge yourself on him.
“You decided to injure him when you collected the knife inside. There was a significant degree of premeditation and the use of a weapon.”
He added: “There is an ongoing effect on the victim and he has been left with permanent and visible scarring.”
The judge acknowledged Bahmanifard did not speak good English and would be far away from his family, which would make the sentence more difficult for him.
He said: “It is very likely that you will be deported on release, but that is a matter for the Home Office, not for me.”
Bahmanifard from Newport, admitted unlawful wounding and possessing an offensive weapon, but denied attempted murder and wounding with intent.
He was cleared of the attempted murder and found guilty of the other charges and jailed for 12 years.
Once he has finished his sentence he faces being deported to Iraq.
