Leon Sobers suffered 6 stab wounds from Marks Tey attack

Leon Sobers suffered six separate wounds after he was attacked in Mandeville Road, Marks Tey, last October.

Donald Adu, Calvin Armstrong and a 16-year-old boy who cannot be named for legal reasons are accused of luring him to an alleyway and attempting to murder him - in an attack apparently sparked by the robbery of a drug dealer.

Mr Sobers was stabbed once in the alley before running away and trying to alert residents when he was set upon again.

He then received treatment at the scene by a former paramedic before ambulance crews arrived and took him to hospital where he had surgery and spent ten days recovering.

Consultant forensic pathologist Dr Benjamin Swift told Ipswich Crown Court the most severe injury was one to Mr Sobers’ chest which caused his bowel to spill out and penetrated his stomach.

“There was a stab wound to the lower part of his left chest through which the bowel had started to stick out,” he said.

“It was in between his eight and ninth ribs, has gone into his abdominal cavity and in doing so has damaged his stomach.

“There was a stab wound to the stomach and as a result of this it leaked into the abdominal space.

“I would estimate the depth of it to be between five and ten centimetres.

“It has the potential to be a fatal injury.

“He required abdominal surgery to repair the damage to the stomach and to wash out all of the leakage which had leaked into the abdominal space.”

Mr Sobers also suffered two stab wounds to his left arm - described by Dr Swift as defensive wounds - and three to his back.

None of those alone had the potential to be fatal.

Adu, of Howard Road, London, Armstrong, of no fixed address, and the boy, who is from Colchester, deny attempted murder and an alternative charge of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

Armstrong, 22, and the boy deny they were even there but Adu, 25, accepts he was at the scene but says he was not involved in the assault.

n The trial continues.