A KNIFEMAN who almost killed a Suffolk youth has been jailed indefinitely and told he will be deported to Poland.Damian Brauer was jailed for a minimum of 27 months by Ipswich Crown Court and was told he would not be released from prison until the parole board deemed him not to be a danger to the public.

A KNIFEMAN who almost killed a Suffolk teenager has been jailed indefinitely and told he will be deported to Poland.

Damian Brauer was jailed for a minimum of 27 months at Ipswich Crown Court and was told he would not be released from prison until the parole board deemed him not to be a danger to the public.

The court heard that at the time of the attack, the 21-year-old, of Woodbridge Road, Ipswich was on the run from Polish police after being sentenced to five-and-a-half years for two robberies and possession of drugs.

Brauer stabbed Matthew Buckman ten times in the neck and back causing life-threatening injuries.

Mr Buckman, then 19, of Padstow Road, Kesgrave, had been in Ipswich town centre with his friend, 16-year-old Kurtis Pack, when they met Brauer in the early hours of May 27 last year.

The court heard that Brauer tried to karate kick Mr Buckman who had then punched him in the face.

Brauer walked away but the two youths followed him to an alleyway between Upper Brook Street and Woolworths car park and a scuffle ensued.

The court heard that Brauer complained that two against one was unfair and he returned home.

Andrew Shaw, prosecuting, said Brauer changed his clothes, armed himself with a knife and “recruited” another man to return to town to seek revenge.

CCTV showed Brauer and the man follow Mr Buckman and Mr Pack along Upper Brook Street and into the same alleyway. The other man hit Mr Buckman over the head with a blunt weapon and Mr Brauer stabbed him with the knife.

Brauer pleaded guilty to wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

Slawomir Inczewski, 25, denied the same offence and was acquitted by an Ipswich Crown Court jury.

Mr Buckman staggered along Upper Brook Street bleeding heavily and his friend managed to steer him towards Zing Wine Bar in Tacket Street where staff applied pressure to his wounds and called an ambulance.

Judge John Devaux said Brauer's guilty plea and earlier provocation were mitigating factors but his previous offending had escalated the seriousness of this offence.

Matthew Buckman spent weeks in hospital undergoing arterial and nerve repair operations and physiotherapy following Damian Brauer's brutal attack.

After the verdict Mr Buckman, now 20, said his right arm was still partially disabled and he was only able to work limited hours at Bennetts Electrical in Martlesham.

He said: “Twenty-seven months does not seem like very much but they said he would go back to Poland and I'm very pleased about that.

“I still have to have more surgery so I will still be receiving physio when he comes out, if he only serves 27 months.”

Mr Buckman said he had retaliated to Brauer's initial attack and had tried to keep his young friend out of it.

He said Brauer's revenge attack with another man was “cowardly”.