A STABBING victim feared he was about to die when his drinking companion plunged a knife into his neck.

Zhang Xian Wu had been enjoying a drink with Han Yang when the latter thrust the blade into him after turning on him.

The victim said Yang had chillingly warned him he was getting ready to kill him during the terrifying attack at a flat in Newport.

Mr Wu claimed that he had been attacked when he refused the defendant's offer of being involved in a robbery.

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Chinese national Yang, 44, from Newport, was jailed after a jury found him guilty of wounding with intent.

The defendant, represented by Harry Baker, had denied the charge and claimed the complainant’s injury was self-inflicted and that he had stabbed himself.

During the trial at Cardiff Crown Court, Mr Wu had described his horrific ordeal.

“He punched me to eyes and to my head,” he said. “My nose was bleeding.

“I lost count of the number of times he punched me.

“He then stabbed me with a knife.

“I thought he was going to kill me.

“He said to me, ‘Don’t you realise I’m going to kill you today?’

“I felt I was going to die. The blood was gushing out of my neck.”

Prosecutor Heath Edwards told the jury how Gwent Police were called to a flat on Commercial Street on October 10, 2020.

He said: “They found the complainant. He was bleeding. He was lying on the floor and needed immediate medical attention at a hospital.

“Mr Wu said someone had tried to kill him.”

The jury heard how Yang was arrested on October 28, 2020 by officers from Devon and Cornwall Police.

They had found him at the Happy Chef restaurant in Torquay.

The judge, Recorder Mark Cotter QC, jailed Yang, of no fixed abode, for seven years.

Outside the court, Detective Chief Inspector Nicola Williams, the senior investigating officer, said: “Knife crime has no place is our communities.

“The victim in this case was very fortunate to survive this attack after he was discovered by officers with injuries to his head and body, including wounds to his neck.

“The support of the victim towards the police investigation and the hard work of officers to find this defendant and bring him to justice means that a dangerous person has been taken off our streets.

“I hope this lengthy sentence sends a message to anyone thinking of carrying or using a knife to think of the consequences.

“If anyone has any information about individuals involved in knife crime or has any concerns, call Gwent Police on 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

"In an emergency always dial 999.”