Teenager saw brutal attack on friend

A TEENAGER saw his friend stabbed and bludgeoned to within an inch of his life in an Ipswich alleyway, a jury has heard.

Curtis Pack, who was just 16 at the time of the attack, told Ipswich Crown Court that a “Turkish-looking man” hit Mark Buckman with a pool cue case.

He said the man with the case was bigger, had darker skin and appeared to be younger than the other man who had a knife.

The court heard that two Polish men attacked Mr Buckman in an alley which leads between Upper Brook Street and Woolworths' car park in the early hours of May 27 last year.

Damien Brauer, of Woodbridge Road, pleaded guilty to wounding Mr Buckman with intent to do him grievous bodily harm with a knife.

Slawomir Inczewski, 25, who shares the Woodbridge Road house with Brauer and other Polish men, has denied the same offence but with a “blunt force” weapon. He told police it was a case of mistaken identity.

Mr Pack, now 17, said the sound of the pool cue case hitting his friend was like a “smashing” noise as if it was “hollow”.

The court heard that Mr Buckman was stabbed twice in the neck and also in the face and arm and was hit with a “blunt instrument”.

After the attack Mr Pack applied pressure to Mr Buckman's neck to stem the flow of blood and the court heard that paramedics saved Mr Buckman's life with further first aid treatment.

Prosecution witness David Wilson told the court he saw two British men walk past him at about 1.30am in Upper Brook Street on the night in question swiftly followed by two other men, one of whom he thought was carrying a knife. He said his eyes were fixed on this object so he did not see the men's faces properly.

He said all four men went into an alleyway and the two British men came out and ran down the road.

He said: “One was holding his head and his side. I thought I could see blood but I'm not sure.”

The trial continues.