A KNIFE attacker has been cleared of attempted murder by a jury - but a judge has warned him that he could still be jailed for life for the stabbing.

Mohammed Ali, also known as Paul Mennell, broke down in tears as the jury at Bradford Crown Court returned their unanimous not guilty verdict after a four-day trial.

Ali attacked his victim in broad daylight in August last year and after the pair ended up in a deep ditch on a building site in Cornwall Road, Manningham, he stabbed her in the back with a serrated bread knife.

The 58-year-old, of Sunbridge Road, Bradford, fled the scene after a group of workmen intervened and he was later arrested after making two emotional 999 calls.

Ali, who said he was going to hand himself in, asked one operator: ”Can you tell me if I’ve killed her or not?”

He said he was so sorry and admitted losing his temper.

“Can you tell me if she’s alive or not. I didn’t mean it,” he said.

The court heard that Ali hid the serrated bread knife he used in the attack in a pile of gravel and discarded his jacket before he was eventually arrested by police near Tesco’s car park on Canal Road.

During his police interviews, Ali said he had gone out that morning to speak to the complainant about their relationship, but claimed she started swearing at him and hitting him.

Ali claimed they had fallen into the ditch and that he stabbed the complainant once when he lost his temper.

“I don’t know what happened. I just snapped,” he told police.

Ali admitted having feelings of jealousy but said he didn’t know what got into him.

“It’s not attempted murder. I did not go there to harm her whatsoever,” he said.

Before the trial got underway Ali admitted an offence of causing grievous bodily harm with intent and possession of an offensive weapon.

Judge Jonathan Rose adjourned Ali’s sentencing hearing until March 22 next year so that a psychiatric report could be completed along with a pre-sentence report.

Barrister Abdul Iqbal KC, for Ali, said his client appreciated that he would receive a very substantial sentence of imprisonment for the offences he had admitted.

Judge Rose remanded Ali back into custody and explained to him that the offence of causing grievous bodily harm with intent carried a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

He said the court would have to decide whether a determinate prison sentence, an extended prison sentence, or a life sentence was required.

“On any view, allowing for the credit for your guilty pleas, you will receive a very substantial sentence of imprisonment,” the judge told Ali.

“You should not think that anything other than that is going to be the outcome, but there remains the possibility, that you cannot ignore, of an extended sentence or a life sentence of imprisonment.”