A MAN who stabbed two people in an unprovoked attack at an Indian restaurant in Darlington has been jailed.

The manager and another employee at Shapla restaurant, on Northgate, were left seriously injured after their 43-year-old colleague attacked them with an 8ins chicken filleting knife on an evening in July last year.

During a hearing at Teesside Crown Court on Friday, the man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was given a 16-year sentence and ordered to spend 12 years in jail before being considered for parole.

High on a cocktail of drugs, the 43-year-old potwasher at the restaurant savagely attacked his manager and a young waiter before going on the run, Teesside Crown Court heard.

Several people – including a ten-year-old child – were enjoying their meals and chatting to staff when the disturbed worker picked up an 8ins chicken filleting knife and launched a sustained attack on his unsuspecting colleagues.

The attack took place on Thursday, July 21, at the popular Darlington restaurant, on Northgate.

Waiter Saju Ahmed, who was 17 at the time, was standing in a corridor close to the kitchen when he was attacked with no warning.

Prosecutor Jolyon Perks said: “He heard a door swing open, the defendant appeared and he was punched.

“After this unprovoked and surprising incident, he looked down and realised he was bleeding heavily from his abdomen and had been stabbed.”

If not for skilful surgeons and hospital staff, Judge Simon Bourne-Arton said Mr Ahmed would probably have died from his injuries.

After attacking the teenager, the knifeman – high on a mixture of cocaine, amphetamines and alcohol – went into the restaurant, where manager Abu Bakar Raju was talking to customers.

He chased Mr Raju around the restaurant, repeatedly attempting to stab him in the chest.

Mr Raju was slashed along his left arm, leaving him with a life-changing injury.

The attacker then fled the restaurant into the nearby North Lodge Park, where he disappeared.

His knife was found stabbed into the ground in a secluded area of the park.

The man, who has several previous convictions for violence, was caught several hours later in the Odeon cinema, where staff had noticed him acting strangely and contacted the police.

Months after the horrifying incident, Mr Ahmed and Mr Raju are still recovering from their injuries and attempting to come to terms with an attack one witness described as being “like something from a horror movie”.

In a victim statement, Mr Raju said the injuries to his arm left him unable to work and had forced him to give up his family business.

He said: “I have been mentally affected and my family are also suffering."

Mr Ahmed said he also struggled to sleep and often woke up “in shock, sweating and panicking”.

Throughout Friday’s court hearing, the defendant – who witnesses said had smirked throughout the attacks – appeared agitated, often rolling his eyes.

The court heard he had believed his colleagues did not like him while Scott Smith, mitigating, said the attacks were not premeditated, adding: “The underlying issue here is clearly the consumption of illicit substances.”

The attacker pleaded guilty to two counts of wounding with intent and was given a 16-year sentence.