A MAN has been jailed for five years and three months for knifing his friend 12 times, fracturing his shoulder blade and puncturing his lung.

Lee Joyce attacked his victim at an address in Hopkinson Street, off Keighley Road, Ovenden, Halifax, late on July 8 last year, Bradford Crown Court heard today.

Joyce, 26, of Calder Rise, Mixenden, Halifax, pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent.

Prosecutor Christopher Dunn said that he admitted the offence on the day of his trial this week. He was originally charged with attempted murder but the Crown accepted his guilty plea to Section 18 wounding.

Mr Dunn said Joyce and his victim were workmates and friends until they fell out and a physical altercation took place.

Joyce then stabbed the man 12 times in the torso, three times to his front and nine times to his back.

He was taken to Leeds General Infirmary and transferred to St James University Hospital. He had 12 injuries consistent with knife wounds. One had penetrated the chest cavity and damaged a lung. The man’s liver was also damaged.

Mr Dunn said the injuries were potentially life-threatening and severe force was needed to fracture the man’s shoulder blade. A chest drain was inserted and he was in hospital for four days.

The police found a blood-stained knife down the sofa at the Hopkinson Street address.

The day after the stabbing, Joyce told a relative: ‘I’ve done something really bad. I’ve stabbed a lad…I stabbed, stabbed, stabbed him.”

Joyce said he was being attacked with a knife and a table leg and acted in self-defence.

But Mr Dunn said when he was examined at the police station, he had sustained only minor grazing. Michelle Colborne KC said in mitigation that Joyce did not go looking for trouble that night, he responded to it.

There was no evidence that he had taken cocaine before the stabbing. He panicked and took the drug afterwards.

Miss Colborne said Joyce acted out of excessive self-defence and the victim was dis-charged from hospital in a matter of days.

The men were friends and workmates and there had been no previous animosity between them. There was a lack of premeditation and that was a significant factor.

Joyce had post-traumatic stress disorder after a very serious car accident in 2016 that left him in a wheelchair for a long time.

Judge Jonathan Gibson conceded that the offence was committed out of ‘excessive self-defence.’ Joyce believed that he needed to defend himself but then acted in an unjusti-fied manner.

The man’s injuries were grave and potentially life-threatening if left untreated and could even have been fatal with treatment.

Joyce had serious medical and psychological difficulties after the major accident in 2016.

He was the father of two young children who he would not be able to provide for while in custody.

Judge Gibson made an indefinite restraining order banning Joyce from contacting his victim or going near any address where he is staying or residing.