A DJ who committed an ‘utterly barbaric attack’ by chopping off his friend’s finger has been jailed for 14 years.

Malachi Halstead, 35, of Chapman Court, Newport, drove Teerath Mann to a graveyard near Celtic Manor to hack off his right index finger.

He forced Mann to place his finger on a wooden pole, before chopping it off with a meat cleaver.

South Wales Argus:

Halstead who was jailed for 14 years

Halstead boasted about the act on Snapchat, showing Mann’s severed finger in a video which recorder Christopher Clee called ‘chilling.’ The DJ blamed the attack on another man who he refused to name – referred to only as Mr Biggs.

But a jury at Cardiff Crown Court agreed with the prosecution who said Biggs was a ‘figment of Halstead’s imagination’ and found him guilty of wounding with intent.

Sentencing at Cardiff Crown Court today, recorder Clee said: “You gave Mann five seconds to run in any direction and said he is losing something.

“He pleaded with you and must have been petrified.

“It was an utterly barbaric attack.”

Halstead was sentenced to 14 years in jail. After the 14 year sentence, he will serve three years on licence.

After the sentencing, Detective Constable Eirian Williams said: “This incident accurately represents the reality of organised criminality for gain. Malachi Halstead enacted a terrible life changing injury on the victim on what was effectively a vendetta crime.

"We are delighted that this particularly violent individual has been convicted and we hope this lengthy sentence serves as a warning to others involved in organised crime.

"The support and positive reaction from the local community as a result of these prosecutions has been fantastic."