Eastleigh samurai sword attack: Teen gets nine-year sentence

A teenager who attacked a man with a samurai sword, leaving him brain-damaged and blind in one eye, has been sentenced to nine years' detention.

Jon Barnes, 23, spent 19 days in a coma after the attack at a house in Eastleigh, Hampshire, on 21 December.

Brandon Engert, 18, previously pleaded guilty at Southampton Crown Court to wounding with intent.

Judge Christopher Parker QC said Mr Barnes would never recover from his "utterly horrendous" injuries.

Engert, who was living at the property in Heinz Burt Close, previously found the three-foot-long sword in the attic, the court was told.

Mr Barnes, who was visiting the house, was asked to leave by Engert who then produced the sword from his room.

The teenager inflicted a single wound which penetrated the victim's brain, the court heard.

He then fled the house at about 22:00 GMT and was arrested later that night after calling the police.

No sword was ever recovered.

Mr Barnes is "lucky to be alive" and was likely to suffer from permanent brain damage, forensic pathologist Dr Basil Purdue said.

"There is no guarantee that the wound may not yet prove fatal due to damage from microorganisms," Dr Purdue said in a report which was read out in court.

In a statement, the victim said he had been blinded in one eye and continued to suffer from severe headaches, anxiety and memory loss.

Judge Parker said Mr Barnes had suffered "critical and life-threatening injuries" in the attack.

"That it should blow up out of a stupid argument is astonishing and appalling," the judge said.

Engert held his head in his hands as he was sentenced to nine years in a young offenders institution.

Outside the court, Mr Barnes, from Winchester, said he accepted Engert genuinely regretted his actions.