A drug dealer from Liverpool who twice stabbed a Rhyl man in the street was jailed for four years and four months.

Sonny Thomas, 22, of Scott Avenue, Huyton, admitted wounding at the seaside town in July.

He also pleaded guilty to making off without paying for fuel at Rhyl and possessing heroin and crack cocaine worth £400 in April last year, with intent to supply.

A Mold crown court judge heard he had been on bail when the early morning knifing occurred.

Prosecuting counsel Andrew Green said there were two wounds to the shoulder and Grant Brown told police he had been stabbed by Thomas who was part of a Liverpool gang.

Mr Brown said his partner owed money to Thomas.

He’d tried to run away from the defendant.

“He has nightmares and flashbacks,” Mr Green added. Thomas’s mobile phone showed he had searched for news of the stabbing.

Defence barrister Gareth Bellis said it was accepted that Thomas faced a substantial jail term. He was a street dealer of drugs.

Mr Bellis said the wounds were “superficial.”

Judge Huw Rees told Thomas :”You confronted and chased after a fleeing victim, the same age as you, and stabbed him twice to the left shoulder blade causing two puncture wounds.”