A Chinese takeaway restaurant worker attacked his boss with a cleaver and left her for dead after she nagged him about his work, it has been alleged.

Lianjun Sun told 50-year-old Linda Tian that he was going to kill her before allegedly delivering two “massive” blows to her neck in the kitchen of the New China restaurant in Garrick Way, Ipswich, the town’s crown court heard.

One of the blows caused a “terrible” injury measuring 12cm from the midline of her throat to her left ear, said Andrew Jackson, prosecuting.

“Determined to kill her off he then grabbed her head by her hair and pulled her towards him with her head down towards the ground. Holding her like that he delivered a second massive blow to the back of her neck,” alleged Mr Jackson.

“That blow severed skin and underlying muscle structures in the neck and such was the power it fractured the top of her spine and by only 1mm missed fully severing her spinal column. Had she even survived that she would have lost the use of her limbs for the rest of her life and been left quadriplegic.

“Out of luck more than judgement none of the major arteries in the neck were severed. If they had death would have overcome her very rapidly, certainly within a few minutes,” said Mr Jackson.

He alleged that “severe” force would have been required to inflict the two injuries.

Two off-duty members of staff in an adjacent flat were alerted by Ms Tian’s screams and carried her from the restaurant kitchen to near their front door where she was assisted by passers by and paramedics before being taken to hospital.

She subsequently underwent two operations and remained in the critical care unit for some time, said Mr Jackson.

Sun, 51, of Cromer Road, Ipswich has denied attempting to murder Ruo Jun Tian, known as Linda, on November 1 last year.

He has admitted a less serious alternative offence of wounding Ms Tian with intent to cause her grievous bodily harm.

Mr Jackson described the alleged attack as “an act of sustained, determined and powerful brutality.”

He said Sun was employed at the restaurant to carry out basic food preparation and had worked there for three years.

He alleged that Sun’s work wasn’t of the best quality and he appeared to spend a lot of time on the phone to his family when he should have been working.

On many occasions Ms Tian had to speak to Sun about the poor quality of his work and on the afternoon of the alleged attack she had done so once again.

“This was the catalyst for what happened,” said Mr Jackson. He said it might be suggested during the trial that Sun had been provoked by Ms Tian nagging him about his work but this wasn’t a defence to the charge of attempted murder.

He claimed that emboldened because there was no- one else around Sun had answered Miss Tian back and told her he was going to kill her.

Following the attack Sun left Ms Tian for dead on the kitchen floor and hid the cleaver under a fridge in an outhouse. He tried to throw the police off the track by leaving another cleaver in undergrowth near the restaurant.

He then returned home and changed out of his blood stained clothing before leaving the flat by a back door where he was arrested by waiting police officers.

The trial continues today ( Tuesday).