A savage hammer attacker told his victim's mum "I've done a good job on him" as she went to help her injured son.
Thomas Nicholson had been walking the streets with a claw hammer when he lashed out at a man who had simply "glanced" in his direction as they passed in the street.
A court heard the victim, who had been on his way to visit his mother, was left in "agony", with blood pouring down his face and rang his girlfriend from the scene.
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His girlfriend then contacted his mother to inform her what had happened and she left her home to assist her son.
Newcastle Crown Court heard she passed Nicholson as she made her way there, who told her: "Don't bother coming to my door. Have you seen your son? I've done a good job on him. There is nothing you can do to me."
The victim was left with a one centimetre cut to his forehead and a three centimetre, T-shaped cut to his eyebrow, with bruising and swelling, following the attack last February.
Nicholson, 26, of Binswood Avenue, Blakelaw, Newcastle, had denied wounding with intent and claimed the injuries were caused with fists but an expert doctor concluded that was "impossible" and he was convicted.
Prosecutor Elizabeth Muir said Nicholson had the claw hammer in his hand when he punched the victim and added: "What he had cut him with was a claw hammer."
The victim, who gave evidence during the trial in December, said the attack had a significant affect on his mental health and struggled to leave the house through fear of being attacked again.
He added that the guilty verdict meant a "huge weight was lifted off my shoulders" and said: "I am so happy I don't have to worry about seeing him when I go out."
Judge Christopher Prince sentenced Nicholson to five years behind bars with an indefinite restraining order.
The judge told him: "It was a disturbing feature of the case that you were wondering the streets armed with that item.
"It was clear your meeting with the complainant was entirely coincidental.
"You chose to go out with a hammer onto the streets at night. There is only one reason you had that and that was to use it as a weapon.
"You made use of a highly dangerous weapon."
Penny Hall, defending, read an extract from a letter Nicholson had penned while in prison on remand.
It said: "I don't like jail and I miss my family.
"It's not about me, it is about the victim and I would like to say sorry."
Nicholson added "this is not the life I want" and that he has goals of becoming a chef and opening a restaurant.
