A MAN burst into the kitchen of a restaurant in the centre of Newport and repeatedly stabbed his brother, a court heard.

Cardiff Crown Court was told that victim Yacub Ali suffered wounds which needed 42 stitches.

Minutes later the police separated the pair and the attacker told them: “I’m sorry for what I’ve done.”

Yasin Ali, 27, of Keene Street, Newport, was jailed for two years after he pleaded guilty to a charge of wounding with intent.

Judge Nicholas Cooke told him: “If you use a knife on another human being it is always a serious matter and the custodial sentence must follow.”

Prosecutor Nicola Powell said the brothers lived in Newport and their mother owned a restaurant in Corporation Road.

In the past there had been problems between the two brothers and family arguments.

On August 10 Yasin Ali smoked cannabis and drank, the court heard. That evening he left his home and went to the restaurant where Yacub Ali was working in the kitchen.

At about 10.35pm he burst in. He looked aggressive and was perspiring.

There was shouting and Yasin Ali then attacked him, striking him several times.

They fell to the floor fighting and a waiter ran out and alerted the police.

The court heard that the victim had 13 stitches to the left side of the face, seven in a cut nose, 4 to his left ear, 3 to the back of the neck and 15 to the top of the head.

Later, the defendant admitted causing the injuries and said he had gone to the restaurant, merely to confront and threaten his brother.

But, the defendant said, when he laughed at him, he attacked him.

Yasin Ali was said to have previous convictions for causing actual bodily harm, possessing an offensive weapon, a screwdriver, wounding a bus driver, and possessing a bladed item, a chisel.

Yasin Ali’s counsel Robert Duval said: “This was not a case of gratuitous violence to a complete stranger.

“The circumstances are exceptional and such an acknowledgement of culpability is rare.

“When he went out armed with that knife he was not a balanced young man.

“Initially he didn’t mean to hurt him. But what happened was inevitable.

“In the kitchen his brother treated him with contempt. He had in the past been bullied and degraded.”