7:00pm Monday 20th July 2009
By Ben Parsons, Crime Reporter
A man was stabbed in the neck with a broken bottle while queuing for a taxi.
The 22-year-old, from Seaford, needed emergency surgery after the attack in King’s Road, Brighton, in the early hours of Sunday.
Police are appealing for anyone who saw the attack, at 2.50am, to come forward.
The trouble started when a small scuffle broke out between the victim and a man who was with another group of people at a taxi rank near the Thistle Hotel.
The suspect left with three women and two other men.
He is believed to have walked around the side of the hotel out of sight and smashed a bottle against a wall near a cashpoint before returning.
One of the women he was with shouted: “Don’t do it.”
He walked back and stabbed the victim in the neck with his bottle.
The attacker’s friends were said to have left as soon as they saw what he had done.
He ran off and was last seen turning into Ship Street.
The suspect is described as white, in his mid 20s, 6ft tall, slim to medium build with short dark hair.
He was wearing a blue polo shirt and jeans.
The victim’s friends were drenched in blood as they tried to help the man.
He needed an emergency operation at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton, where he remained in a serious but stable condition last night.
Detective Sergeant Steve Tattersall of Sussex Police said: “This was a totally unprovoked and vicious attack.
“The suspect was with people he knew that night.
“We would appeal for people who witnessed it or any of the group that were with him to come forward.”
Anyone with information about the stabbing is asked to contact DC Stewart Cameron at Brighton and Hove CID on 0845 6070999, quoting reference number 331 of July 19, or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.
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