A KNIFEMAN who stabbed two brothers outside a city centre nightclub nearly killing one of them was jailed for 12 years.

Christopher Smith cut Preston Roberts’ throat and slashed Keiron Roberts’ head with his grandmother’s kitchen blade after confronting them at Newport’s La Bamba.

The 23-year-old defendant was cleared of the attempted murder of the former after a trial but admitted wounding him with intent and wounding his sibling in the early hours of Easter Monday.

During his trial, prosecutor Ieuan Bennett said Smith mistakenly thought Preston Roberts had been an aggressor after he had been assaulted by a group of men outside the same club the night before.

Sentencing Smith, of Mallard Way, Duffryn, Newport, the Recorder of Cardiff, Judge Eleri Rees, told the defendant she was passing an extended sentence on him for the protection of the public.

She said: “Preston Roberts had tried to intervene to assist you to avoid you taking a beating.

“You were intent on revenge…you stabbed him in the throat with full force.”

The judge added: “He sustained life-threatening injuries. You cut his jugular vein. Had his car not been nearby and he immediately driven to the Royal Gwent Hospital, he might well have died.

“He is all too aware of how close he came to dying that night.”

Mr Bennett told Cardiff Crown Court how Smith had previous convictions for violence, including a custodial term of 12 months imposed last year for grievous bodily harm.

The prosecutor said the defendant was in a gang who had confronted two Newport city council wardens in their 50s and 60 at Duffryn Junior School on July 4, 2017.

Mr Bennett said Smith punched one of them, breaking his jaw, his blow causing further serious injuries, including a “significant wound to the back of his head” and bleeding on the brain.

He said the victim went into a coma but has made a “relatively good recovery”.

Nigel Fryer, mitigating, said the most powerful mitigation he could present was that his client had admitted stabbing the brothers.

He added: “This was shocking violence in a short space of time.

“He has had time to reflect on his actions and he exhibits genuine remorse.

“When he is not in drink and using narcotics, he is a pleasant individual.”

Judge Rees said she deemed that Smith poses a significant risk of serious harm to the public and sentenced him to a 12-year extended sentence after considering a life sentence.

This means he must serve a 10-year custodial term which includes an extended two-year period on licence.

Smith will not be eligible for parole until he has served at least seven-and-a-half years in jail.