A MAN has been jailed for seven and a half years for a machete attack on a 17-year-old which left the victim with a six-inch wound on his shoulder.

James Ellison, 26, of North Road had been convicted of wounding Callum Twist with intent on February 12 this year following a trial at Liverpool Crown Court.

At his sentencing the court heard that Ellison had previous convictions including being part of a gang guilty of sickening attack at Sherdley Park which took place in 2008.

Ellison was sentenced to five years and eight months in 2009 after admitting GBH with intent and violent disorder after he had bitten 18-year-old victim Craig Rooney on the back and legs.

In February of this year the court heard how Ellison left his house with the machete after a large group of youths engaged in anti-social behaviour at Victoria Park had damaged his girlfriend’s car.

Ellison stabbed the victim in the shoulder blade with the weapon after getting involved in a confrontation with him.

The attack gave Twist a six-inch wound which has required surgery and left him with permanent scarring.

In a victim statement read out in court it was noted Twist has had two lots of surgery and will need more in future.

It added: “Some people might think it’s a scar to be proud of but not to me, it’s a reminder of how things could have been worse, I could have been killed.

“My mum has been very upset by it and she worries whether anything should happen in case I see him again. I know some of my friends have been really disturbed by it.

“I don’t go out as much as I did and don’t drink as much now.”

Judge Recorder David Turner QC said how an “unsympathetic judge” could have imposed a greater sentence and made reference to Ellison’s past conviction from the Sherdley Park attack, from which he completed the sentence on licence in 2014.

He said: “You were i involved in a group attack on another man that involved biting.

“Sixty-eight months is a very serious sentence and indicates how serious the case must be.”

Referring to the machete attack, the judge acknowledged it was “understandable that you were annoyed as anybody would be.

“Furthermore I accept that you took the weapon that you kept in a bedroom to be able to protect your girlfriend and yourself and were not intending to use it.”

He added: “At that time you did lose your temper and you did use that machete by slashing Callum Twist across the shoulder.”

Handing Ellison the jail term, the judge added that he considered aggravating factors including Ellison’s previous convictions.