STAFF and drinkers were left stunned when a row over faith ended up with Abdel Ameur on the floor of their pub bleeding profusely from knife wounds.The drama unfolded at about 5pm on January 16 after the Sultani and Mr Ameur, both Algerian nationals, left the YMCA in Wellington Street, Ipswich, and drove into town via South Street.

STAFF and drinkers were left stunned when a row over faith ended up with Abdel Ameur on the floor of their pub bleeding profusely from knife wounds.

The drama unfolded at about 5pm on January 16 after the Sultani and Mr Ameur, both Algerian nationals, left the YMCA in Wellington Street, Ipswich, and drove into town via South Street.

It is understood that Sultani, a devout Muslim, was intent on trying to provoke an argument over faith prior to the incident, which culminated in him producing a large knife and stabbing Mr Ameur through the collar bone, puncturing his lung.

During the fight, Sultani got out of the car driven by Mr Ameur, and lunged at him through the car window and stabbing him with a commando-style knife.

Having received a deep wound through his shoulder, Ameur also suffered superficial wounds to his hands and arms while trying to protect himself from further attacks by 6ft Sultani.

Ameur told police that throughout the attack Sultani was shouted at him and said he was going to kill him.

Defenceless, Mr Ameur escaped the clutches of Sultani by jumping across to the passenger seat and made his escape down Orford Street, still being chased by Sultani brandishing the knife.

The drama then continued in the Hare and Hounds pub in Norwich Road, where drinkers witnessed Mr Ameur fall through the pub doors with Sultani behind him. With many people in the pub at the time Sultani fled the scene and left Mr Ameur pouring with blood.

At the time Linda Smith, landlady at the Hare and Hounds said she tried to calm the injured man down until the ambulance arrived.

"I was upstairs when the barmaid shouted to me that someone had fallen through the door and had been stabbed.

"I sat him down and got some bar towels with ice in them. I just kept him sitting down until the police and ambulance turned up.

"There was blood on the door and drops through the pub. As soon as the police got here I got the mop and bucket," she said.

Officers arrested Sultani shortly after the incident when he arrived at Ipswich Hospital asking for treatment for a hand injury.

Two days later he was charged and remanded in custody until his trial on November 4.

Detective Inspector John Quinton said: "Uniformed officers attended the initial investigation and during interview Sultani spoke of the altercation and the subsequent disposal of the knife.

"Through excellent police work and liasing with the borough council we searched the drains for the knife.

"We made an educated guess as to which route we believed Sultani would have taken when he fled the scene and the weapon was found in a drain in South Street."

Mr Quinton admitted that trying to get a conviction for attempted murder is much more difficult to prove than it is for murder.

He commented: "It is always difficult to prove intent. However, we felt the case against Sultani was strong enough and the intent was evident.

"With Sultani stating his intentions to kill during the attack and chasing after the victim, together with the successful recovery of the knife and the witnesses in the pub we were confident we had a strong case against him.

"This demonstrates that just because a victim survives such an attack it is not a distraction to the police or any less serious.

Despite the serious injuries suffered by Mr Ameur in the unprovoked attack it is understood he has made a full recovery and has no lasting disability.