UPDATE: 5.30pm

A DJ is facing jail for hacking off another man's finger in a graveyard and broadcasting it on Snapchat.

Malachi Halstead, 35, used a meat cleaver to remove 23-year-old Teerath Mann's right index finger.

But the DJ blamed the attack on a mysterious 'Mr Biggs' - who he said chopped off the finger and forced Halstead to make the Snapchat video.

Halstead told Cardiff Crown Court that Mr Mann asked him for help because he owed money to Mr Biggs and had been called to meet him.

Halstead told the jury: "He wanted me to go with him to the meeting to make sure he was alright.

"I wanted to be there for him as a friend, I didn't see a problem with that."

Halstead forced Mr Mann to place his right index finger on a wooden pole, and chopping it off with a meat cleaver.

But he blamed the attack on Mr Biggs - who prosecutors said he made up.

Prosecutor Heath Edwards said Mr Biggs was "a figment of Halstead's imagination".

Mr Edwards told him: "You used your friend as a tool to show people just how dangerous you are."

Halstead, of Chapman Court, Newport, was today found guilty of wounding with intent for removing the finger - but cleared of actual bodily harm over an alleged attack in a car.

Halstead admitted escaping police custody for running away from officers after initially being arrested.

His on-off girlfriend Nicole Seaborne, 26, of Bishton Street, Newport was cleared of allegedly providing him with the weapon.

Halstead will be sentenced on Wednesday.

2.45pm

THE jury in the trial of a DJ accused of chopping off another man's finger and broadcasting on Snapchat has retired to consider its verdict.

Malachi Halstead, 35, is accused hacking off Teerath Mann's right index finger after driving him to a graveyard.

But the DJ has blamed the attack on a mysterious 'Mr Biggs' - who he says chopped off the finger and forced Halstead to make the video.

Halstead told Cardiff Crown Court that Mr Mann asked him for help because he owed money to Mr Biggs and had been called to meet him.

Halstead told the jury: "He wanted me to go with him to the meeting to make sure he was alright.

"I wanted to be there for him as a friend, I didn't see a problem with that."

Halstead is accused of forcing Mr Mann to place his right index finger on a wooden pole, and chopping it off with a knife given to him by on-off girlfriend Nicole Seaborne, 26.

But Halstead denied Seaborne gave him the weapon - because they did not carry out the attack in the early hours of the morning on August 13 last year.

Halstead said he arrived at a graveyard with Mr Mann, but when they arrived Mr Biggs quickly jumped in and drove off with the alleged victim still in the back seat.

After returning approximately 15 minutes later, Halstead said that only then did he realise that Mr Mann's finger had been chopped off.

"He threatened me in the car , telling me that I would lose one of my digits," Halstead added.

But prosecutor Heath Edwards said Mr Biggs didn't exist - and was "a pigment of Halstead's imagination".

Mr Edwards told told him: "You used your friend as a tool to show people just how dangerous you are."

Halstead, of Chapman Court, Newport, denies actual bodily harm, wounding with intent and unlawful wounding.

Seaborne, of Bishton Street, Newport, denies encouraging or assisting in the commission of an indictable offence believing it will be committed.

Proceeding.