A TEENAGER has been jailed after stabbing the boyfriend of a woman he was holding a candle for.

Owen Moores, of Leicester Street in Whitecross, punctured the lung of his victim following an argument over the woman in an altercation in December last year.

The victim – a 20-year-old – had to have his lung pumped of blood after being rushed to the major trauma ward at Warrington Hospital.

And Moores, 19, was told that his crime was too serious for anything other than a custodial sentence at Liverpool Crown Court on Friday.

Brian Treadwell, prosecuting, explained how the defendant had a romantic interest for the partner of his victim, but this was ‘not reciprocated’ by her.

Moores, who had ‘taken a dislike’ to her boyfriend, told her that her partner was ‘going to get stabbed’ two weeks before the incident.

On December 18 at around 1.05pm, the victim was riding his bike along Wellfield Street when he came across Moores and two other people.

He saw Moores put his hand in his pocket and pull out a blade. This was described as being around three inches in length and connected to a ring, although Judge Thomas Teague pointed out that it could not be defined as a knife.

The victim told him to put the blade down and said that he would ‘take all three of them on’, before being punched by one of the males.

This was followed by Moores running at the victim and aiming a punch to the left side of his chest.

The court heard how the victim felt a ‘piercing pain’ in his upper ribs, discovered that he was bleeding and saw the trio running away.

Following an x-ray and CT scan at Warrington Hospital, the victim was found to have a single puncture wound to his chest. Internally, he had a popped lung which had to be drained of blood.

He was transferred to the hospital’s major trauma ward, where thankfully he was discharged within days with no further complications.

Forensic analysis following Moores’ arrest found the victim’s blood on an item of his clothing, and he was charged with wounding and possession of a bladed article in public.

Mr Treadwell also revealed that Moores has one previous conviction for possession of cannabis in February 2019 and was given a conditional discharge.

But because of actions on December 18, the defendant was in breach of this discharge and was remanded in custody, where he has been for the past 10 months.

In defence of his client, Simon Christie spoke of Moores’ mental health difficulties, the time already served in detention and his entitlement of 25 per cent credit for his guilty plea at an earlier hearing.

Before sentencing, Judge Teague said: “This sprang out of an argument about a woman. You threatened your victim with a blade and punched him to his side, effectively stabbing him

“Aggravating factors are that you were under influence of drugs and alcohol at the time, mitigated by a lack of relevant previous convictions, genuine remorse and that it was a single blow.

“The public are right to expect an appropriate custodial penalty, as this crime is simply too serious for anything else.”

Moores was sentenced to 20 months in detention, of which he will serve half, but this will be deducted from the time he has already served behind bars.