The Royal Court building

A HEROIN addict who tried to stab a man with a syringe told his victim ‘if this goes inside you will get a disease and die’.

Fearing for his life, the victim of the sick attack in a St Helier block of flats had to use a fire hose to fight off 25-year-old Shane O’Shea – a prolific offender who had been terrorising people on the streets of Jersey for years.

The man, who had been tricked into a deal to buy cigarettes that didn’t exist, then managed to call police and O’Shea fled.

O’Shea has an appalling criminal history with 18 convictions for some 49 offences. A number of those offences include similar instances when O’Shea had duped people into bogus cigarette deals and one where he demanded money with menaces.

Yesterday O’Shea was sent to prison for three years and eight months for the syringe attack, which happened on 24 September last year, and a number of other offences. He had been in custody since his arrest on 25 September.