A MAN needed emergency surgery to remove his spleen when he was critically injured by two stab wounds after trouble flared following a cake, vodka and brandy party.

The celebration turned sour when he was knifed, his attacker was kicked unconscious, and allegations of rape were made, Bradford Crown Court heard today.

Lazlo Szmolak was hosting the birthday party for Slovakian and Hungarian guests at his home in Daisy Street, Bradford, on March 25, 2020, prosecutor Nicola Hoskins said.

But following the big gathering, Szmolak, 46, was tidying his kitchen when news reached him that a woman partygoer was saying she had been raped in an alleyway.

He put a knife in his pocket and went to a house to find the man he thought was responsible.

A window was smashed and Szmolak confronted the man who punched him twice outside the property.

Szmolak then stabbed him twice before he himself was set upon and knocked out cold by others at the scene, Miss Hoskins said.

The stabbing victim was rushed to hospital where he was found to have two puncture wounds in his ribcage, a deflated lung and a significant spleen haemorrhage.

He needed emergency surgery to remove the spleen and he was then on a critical care ward. He spent five days in hospital while Szmolak sustained a broken nose when he was knocked out.

Szmolak was originally charged with causing grievous bodily harm with intent but he pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of unlawful wounding on the day of trial. He also admitted possession of a knife in a public place on the same date.

Derek Duffy said in mitigation that it became a big party with a lot of alcohol consumed.

Szmolak was very upset when a woman who had been at the party said a man had sexually assaulted and raped her in an alleyway.

He went to confront him but there were a lot of people at the address and he felt intimidated. He did not remember stabbing the man but accepted that he had.

‘His emotions got the better of him,” the court was told.

He was a hardworking man with a wife and two children and assessed as at a low risk of reoffending.

Judge Colin Burn told Szmolak he could easily have killed his victim. “It would have been just as likely that he died as survived,” he said.

It was a grave injury but he was a victim as well because he was assaulted by another male.

“There were three victims of serious offences arising out of what was supposed to be a party by way of celebration,” Judge Burn said.

A man was stabbed, Szmolak was kicked unconscious with a broken nose, and a woman said she was raped.

The court heard that the allegation of rape was never charged.

Szmolak was sentenced to two years imprisonment, suspended for two years, with 200 hours of unpaid work and up to 30 rehabilitation activity days with the probation service to address his thinking skills and emotional management.