Police are treating an attack on a man near Coleraine yesterday afternoon as attempted murder and have not yet ruled out a sectarian motive.
The victim (28) was attacked by three men who jumped out of a car and confronted him as he was walking along Cloyfin Road between Bushmills and Coleraine in Co Derry at about 4.30 p.m.
The gang set upon their victim with an iron bar. One of the men then stabbed him up to eight times in the back.
The attackers tried to drag the man into their car, but he managed to fight them off. They escaped in the direction of Bushmills.
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Police have appealed for witnesses.
PSNI Chief Inspector Nigel Kyle said today: "It was a vicious andunprovoked attack. Religion was mentioned which suggests the attack wassectarian."