A MAN left a friend with a potentially life-threatening injury after puncturing his lung as they fought over an £80 debt.

Connor O’Halloran, 20, attacked Ian Powell with a “sharp implement” described variously as a “cigar cutter, golfing tool or bottle opener”.

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Cardiff Crown Court heard how the two friends had previously lived together but had argued over money at the victim’s Pontypool home on June 15.

Prosecutor Laurence Jones said: “Mr Powell began shouting, ranting and raving that somebody had robbed him when the defendant came to collect £80 or £90.”

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O’Halloran used the two-pronged weapon to strike his victim four times during their struggle.

Mr Jones told the court: “The complainant was taken to hospital for his injuries. He suffered a punctured lung.

“It required urgent and immediate attention. This was a serious injury and it needed emergency treatment.

“Without it, it would have left the victim with life-threatening injuries.”

O’Halloran, of Hawthorn Road, Sebastopol, Pontypool, pleaded guilty to unlawful wounding.

He admitted the charge on the basis his actions were “reckless but there was no intention to cause harm”.

The defendant tried to administer first aid to the victim after also breaking a number of his ribs, the court heard.

O’Halloran was a man of previous good character with no previous convictions recorded against him.

Scott Bowen, mitigating, said his client had already spent the equivalent of a 12-month sentence behind bars after being held on remand since June.

He pointed out that his client had tended to his victim.

The judge, Recorder David Elias QC, told O’Halloran: “This was a sustained attack with the use of a weapon and it was committed in the home of the victim.”

He sent the defendant to a young offender institution for 25 months.