An Ipswich man has denied stabbing a man during a fight in the town.

Keith McKenzie told a jury at Ipswich Crown Court that he had gone to his partner’s aid after she was attacked in Wherstead Road by a woman who called her a “grass”.

He claimed the woman had grabbed hold of his girlfriend’s hair and Marc Linnemoller, who was with her, had punched his girlfriend twice in the ribs.

McKenzie said that when he tried to intervene, Mr Linnemoller had hit him on the head while holding a full can of beer in his hand.

He said he had tried to release the woman’s grip on his girlfriend’s hair by bending her thumb back and hitting her arm with a chopping motion.

He denied having a knife and stabbing Mr Linnemoller during the incident.

Cross-examined by Juliet Donovan, prosecuting, McKenzie denied he and his girlfriend had been the aggressors during the incident.

McKenzie, 46, of Foundation Street, Ipswich, has denied wounding Mr Linnemoller with intent to cause him grievous bodily harm on October 20 2021 and having a knife in Wherstead Road.

The court has heard that Mr Linnemoller had declined to make a statement to police about the incident.

The trial continues.