Thug left man with 'blood seeping through his trousers' after savage knife attack in Manchester city centre

A thug who stabbed another man twice in Piccadilly Gardens during a ‘group attack’ has avoided jail. Issac Francis, 22, has been banned from entering the area and handed an 18 month community order for wounding and possession of a bladed article.

Police swooped on Piccadilly Gardens on the evening of March 14 last year following reports of a stabbing. There they found a man with “blood seeping through his trousers”, Manchester Crown Court heard.

Prosecuting, David Bentley said that at around 4.45pm two men, including Francis’s victim, met outside Cafe Nero and a fight broke out. On seeing the fight, two further men joined in and began attacking one of the men who was punched in the head.

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Francis, of Carrfield Avenue, Little Hulton, who was on a bench in Piccadilly Gardens at the time, then ran towards the brawl. He was caught on CCTV running with his right hand in his pocket.

The 22-year-old ran up behind the man being attacked and stabbed him twice in the left buttock with a knife. Two police officers on foot patrol saw the disorder and rushed to the scene. Three men, including the defendant, fled on foot.

The stab victim was taken to Manchester Royal Infirmary where he received stitches for two two centimetre stab wounds on his left buttock.

Francis was arrested on March 21 after being identified through CCTV footage and remanded into custody five days later.

The court heard that the 22-year-old has one previous conviction for robbery and possession of a bladed article for which he received an 11 month