When Nazer Hussain looks in the mirror, he no longer recognises the face which looks back at him.

IPSWICH: When Nazer Hussain looks in the mirror, he no longer recognises the face which looks back at him.

The 23-year-old's dreams of a modelling career are over today after he was subjected to a sickening knife attack in his own home.

He says the frightening ordeal has left him with permanent scars - both physical and mental.

Mr Hussain's life was turned upside down in a few short and brutal minutes on Thursday afternoon. Two men, believed to be members of an Ipswich gang, burst into the bathroom of his Spring Road home while he was showering and sliced his face with large knives.

The attack has left Mr Hussain, who works as a chef in a town centre restaurant, with two large permanent scars on his face.

“I do not like who I am at the moment,” he said. “It is too much for me - I have never experienced anything like this.”

The violent and bloody attack happened shortly after 3pm. The attackers, whose faces were covered with scarves, entered the house through an open door armed with a knife. Before going up to the bathroom they took a further two knives from the kitchen.

Mr Hussain said: “I thought it was a joke at first but then I opened the shower door and they sliced me in the face. I didn't know what was happening.

“When I saw the blood and that they had a couple of knives I started shouting 'who are you, who are you?'. I started grabbing them and shouting 'please, please' but they were laughing.

“I thought I was going to die. I thought that they would stab me or cut my throat. They were slicing me everywhere.”

Following the horrific attack, the two men ran off along Spring Road.

Mr Hussain said he has already had phone calls and text messages threatening him and asking why he called police. He is now worried he will be attacked again.

“They are very dangerous people. I do not feel safe in the house. I do not feel able to trust people like I should be doing.

“I think they will come back for me. I looked at my face and thought it has made my life hell. I was hoping to model - now I cannot do what I want to do.”

Anyone with information on the attack is asked to call Dc Mireille Bailey at Ipswich CID on 01473 613500.

Is knife crime a problem in Ipswich? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk