A 'DANGEROUS' teenage drug dealer who stabbed a man in the head with such force that the blade had to be surgically removed has been detained - less than three years after he knifed a teenager in the chest at a Halloween party.

The boy, who is still just 17, was sentenced to 18 months in a young offenders institution in July 2015 after stabbing a 16-year-old on October 31 2014.

Now the youth, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has received a nine-year detention order from a judge at Winchester Crown Court after being convicted of wounding with intent and possession of a sharply pointed article in a public place. He was initially charged with attempted murder.

He admitted supplying cocaine and heroin.

Once released, the boy will be on licence for an extended three-year period where he will be supervised in the community.

The most recent stabbing happened at around 6.10pm on Saturday, January 7 when the victim - a 50-year-old Bournemouth man - visited a property in Ashley Road, Springbourne, with his girlfriend to buy drugs.

The couple bought crack cocaine from a woman and shared it with her. They then decided to buy more drugs, and the victim returned to the same address.

Inside the property, he met the defendant and attempted to buy class As. However, he was turned away because he didn't have enough money and left the address.

The couple then saw the defendant leave the property. The victim approached him on his bike before the boy suddenly punched him in the head.

The victim fell to the ground and touched his head, where he felt a knife sticking out from his skull.

He was rushed to Poole Hospital but later transferred to Southampton General Hospital for treatment.

Doctors were forced to put him into a medically-induced coma. He was then given X-rays with the knife still embedded in his skull before facing an operation to remove the weapon.

Detective Constable Scott Brimicombe, of Bournemouth CID, said: “The defendant had armed himself with a knife before he carried out this brutal attack. It was nothing more than miraculous that his victim did not suffer fatal injuries.

“I hope the sentence handed out by the court will send out a very strong warning that violent crime involving the use of knives will be dealt with robustly by the police and the courts.

“This teenage boy is a danger to society and the public should be reassured by his lengthy period of detention.”

In 2014, the same boy knifed another teenager in the chest at a party.

A judge sitting at Bournemouth Crown Court heard the defendant had split a large bottle of Courvoisier with two others, downed vodka and smoked around £20 of "strong" marijuana before lashing out at another boy after a row.

He has passed a lock knife before the stabbing and hadn't taken it into the party with him, the court heard.

The victim suffered a two-centimetre laceration in his chest near his heart, and was taken to hospital.