A teenager stabbed a man in the liver with a ‘Rambo’ style knife leaving him in an induced coma.

The boy also lured another man to a dark street, stabbed him and stole his car.

The 16-year-old from Darwen, who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared at Preston Crown Court where it was heard that the first incident took place in Darwen on October 23 2022.

Paul Cummings, prosecuting, told the court that the boy’s first victim had formulated a plot to steal some drugs from him on Argyle Street in Darwen.

He said: “The victim had purchased drugs that day from a dealer, the defendant, and after seeing how many drugs he had on him at the time thought he would call the drug dealer back and request some more before stealing them from him.”

Mr Cummings said that when the defendant, who was 15 at the time, returned to Argyle Street thinking he was going to be selling some more drugs, the victim snatched the drugs from him and began walking away.

He went on: “The defendant then pulled out a long Rambo knife and stabbed the victim in the body and left.

“The victim called out for his cousin and was taken to the nearby petrol station where the police were called.

“He suffered a 20cm deep injury to his liver and was required to be placed in a medically induced coma.

“Following surgery, the victim was unable to identify who had stabbed him, but he was given the defendant’s name and looked him up on Facebook which then enabled him to identify him in a police ID parade.

“Police also found the defendant’s DNA on a knife sheath left at the scene.”

In the second incident on March 13 2023, the court was told that the teenager, who had by then turned 16, had lured a man to a dark, poorly lit street in Darwen, with the help of his girlfriend.

Mr Cummings said the man arrived in his car and pulled up on the pavement before the defendant approached the vehicle and demanded the man get out.

He said: “He had a knife with him and the victim said it was around 12 inches.

“A second male approached the passenger side, opened the door and pushed the victim towards the defendant.

“The defendant then punched him to the face and said he wouldn’t ask him again, and demanded he get out of the vehicle.

“The victim then pushed the defendant, but the defendant came at him with the knife and stabbed him in the back of his right thigh.

“The victim then ran off and was chased but managed to get into a shop and an ambulance was called.

“The car was then driven away by a number of other youths and recovered by police later that night.

“The robbery had been planned and the victim had been lured to the scene by the defendant’s girlfriend.”

The 16-year-old was arrested on March 27 but made denials.

He eventually pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of a weapon in a public place, robbery and wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

Defending, Tom Lord said his client, who has nine convictions for 28 offences, expressed a degree of remorse and he could see that he was slowly maturing.

He said the types of sentences he would face if he continued to offend would be lengthy but said the teen was “intelligent” and knew what to expect.

Judge Simon Medland KC said: “You are only a teenager, yet you are before the crown court for two very serious offences.

“In one of them the victim could so easily have died and then you would have been facing the crown court for murder, murder with a knife that you had taken to the scene.

“You need to have a think about your behaviour because on two occasions having only been a mid-teenager you had a knife in your possession and you used it, and knives result in serious injury.

“It’s a medical miracle that your victim didn’t die.”

The boy was sent to youth custody for six years, where it is expected he will be transferred to an adult prison not long after turning 18.