DZUNG Nguyen has admitted a savage daylight knife attack in the Town Gardens this summer, along with a second serious assault carried out the previous month.

Twenty-year-old Nguyen, of no fixed address, went on the run immediately after the park stabbing, as a scuffle between a group of men escalated, in full view of dozens of witnesses, at lunchtime on Sunday, July 24 .

The weapon used in the attack was recovered shortly after the incident, and police detained and questioned two other men aged 18 and 20, as part of their inquiries.

No further action was taken against the two men and they have since been released from custody.

The victim of the assault, a 25-year-old man, suffered serious injuries including stab wounds to his leg and arm, and was taken to Great Western Hospital for treatment.

A police search was carried out, with armed officers conducting home checks around the town after a sighting of Nguyen was made in Bridgemead in late August.

Eventually officers tracked him down to the Hoxton area of London on October 3.

At his first appearance at Swindon Crown Court yesterday Nguyen admitted two counts of wounding with intent to cause GBH.

Further to the stabbing he pleaded guilty to a serious assault on another man which was carried out on June 8, more than a month before he disappeared.

Gareth James, defending, conceded a prison sentence was inevitable. “It is a matter where guilty pleas are entered at the first opportunity despite the very serious nature of the allegations,” he said.

“However, it is a case where the court will have to consider the dangerousness of the offences.

“We will require the assistance of the probation service, but I will not ask the report to cover anything other than a custodial sentence.

“There are some matters to do with debts owed, but which are simply background to the case and are not to do with the circumstances of the offences.

“The defendant is in custody and, bearing in mind the sentence, there is no application to change that.”

Judge Peter Blair QC, presiding, set a sentencing date for Nguyen on November 18.

“Before then you will be seen by the probation service,” he said.

“One of the things we will consider is if you pose a significant danger of serious harm to people in the future and if that danger results in a sentence that would be longer than otherwise.

“You will be receiving a prison sentence, but the fact you have pleaded guilty will be very much in your favour.”