England fan recovering after stabbing in street

Published on Thursday 24 June 2004 01:48

AN ENGLAND football supporter was seriously ill in the intensive care unit of a Portuguese hospital last night after he was stabbed in the back of the neck outside a bar in the Algarve.

The Foreign Office confirmed that a 19-year-old man, believed to be from Yorkshire, was recovering after he was attacked in the resort town of Portimo, near Albuifera.

The incident came less than 48 hours after Stephen Smith, 28, of Wolverhampton, was murdered in a Lisbon square.

A Foreign Office spokesman said representatives from the British embassy had been dispatched to the Algarve to assist the victim.

He said: "Consular staff are visiting a British national who has been seriously injured in an incident in the early hours of this morning in Portimo. He is currently in Barlavento Algarvio Hospital in Portimo and although he is in a serious condition is likely to recover."

Portuguese police sources said it was believed the teenager was part of an English group which had a confrontation with a man and two girls who were thought to be Portuguese.

A source said: "The assailant was with two girls and it is possible his aggression might have been caused by something said by an English person. There might have been some provocation."

Mario Olivera, a Portuguese police spokesman in Faro, said that the incident was not football-related and was being dealt with by police who investigate violent street crime.