This is the horrific moment a man tried to kill his friend by shooting him in the face with a crossbow at point-blank range.

Maricel Melinte, 47, can be seen walking into the back garden of a house in Southampton before taking aim at the unsuspecting victim and pulling the trigger on September 26, 2021.

The bolt lodged in the man’s face but he still managed to get up, fight off a second attack with a hammer, lock Melinte out of the property and flee before collapsing in a nearby road.

Detective Inspector Howard Broadribb said: ‘The fact that this man survived such an ordeal is quite simply a miracle. The bolt was millimetres away from killing him.’

After being taken to hospital, CT scans showed the crossbow bolt was lodged so far into the victim’s skull it had gone into his brain.

He was put in an induced coma by doctors and then underwent a lengthy and complicated operation to remove the bolt at Southampton General Hospital.

Maricel Melinte was convicted of attempted murder (Picture: Hampshire Police)

He pulled the trigger at point-blank range (Picture: Hampshire Police)

Detectives said it was a ‘miracle’ he survived (Picture: Hampshire Police)

The bolt was millimetres away from killing him (Picture: Hampshire Police)

Fortunately it was a success and he is now on the mend, despite ongoing issues controlling his left eye and with his right elbow, which was dislocated in the attack.

When he woke up, the victim told officers he had unwittingly filmed the whole incident on his camera.

He’d set it up on top of Melinte’s shed to study the clouds in a time-lapse video that afternoon.

Melinte was jailed for 18 years at Winchester Crown Court after being found guilty of attempted murder.

The crossbow used in the ‘horrific’ attack (Picture: Hampshire Police)

DI Broadribb told ITV News: ‘Our victim describes his friend that day as not being human and acting like a demon and not knowing what got into him and I don’t think we will ever know the true reason why they had a fight and what happened but the sentence today does reflect the severity of it, the injuries and just how close he came to death.’

He added: ‘I honestly don’t know how he survived.

‘I think it’s the grace of God. The bolt didn’t go through the artery. So fantastic surgery at the hospital. And the quick response to the off duty paramedic who helped save his life.’

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‘The fact that this man survived such an ordeal is quite simply a miracle.’