A schoolboy today told a court two men punched, kicked and slashed him with a knife as he lay bleeding on the ground.

The boy, who was 14 at the time, said the pair approached him in St Nicholas Road, Littlemore, Oxford, in January last year and asked him whether he had been involved in a fight.

He told Oxford Crown Court that when he said no, one of the men punched him to the ground.

Saqab Dogar, aged 18, from Abington, in Northamptonshire, denies wounding with intent.

Amir Hamza, 18, of Ridgefield Road, East Oxford, has admitted the same charge.

Their alleged victim said one of his attackers had a knife but passed it to the other before they kicked and punched him.

He added that a group of other youngsters he believed were their friends were nearby.

He said: “They must have punched me first and then when I was on the floor that was when they sliced me or whatever it was with the knife.

“I was on the floor holding my head and they were just punching and kicking me. I had blood in my eyes.

“Both were kicking and punching me while I was laid on the floor.”

He added he had received cuts to the head, a cracked cheekbone and bruises and said that he had seen two men, who he said were Dogar and Hamza, running away after the attack.

Graham Russell, defending, suggested the teenager did not know who had attacked him while he was on the floor.

He said: “It is possible, isn’t it, that now, looking back on it, you are saying you saw them run away because they are the only two you remember?”

The teenager, who cannot be named, denied Mr Russell’s suggestion.

The case continues.

esimmonds@oxfordmail.co.uk