A MAN was left fighting for his life after he was repeatedly stabbed during a row over a bottle of pop.

Shopkeeper Rizwan Ali, 36, and his nephew Zumir Khan, 19, are now facing jail for the Brierfield attack after being found guilty of wounding Ishtiaq Ahmed with intent.

Mr Ahmed, a convicted murderer, was stabbed eight times with an ice pick and knives after he tried to break up an argument at Faisal's Mini Market, Colne Road, in Brierfield. Police said Mr Ahmed went with a group to the shop acting as a peacemaker to break up the fight which started over the price of a bottle of Oasis.

Mr Ahmed was mistakenly identified for someone else by Ali and Khan and was stabbed eight times in his stomach and back as the argument spilled out onto the street.

He suffered a perforated bowel and punctured lung in the incident on July 25 last year, which was seen by up to 50 people. He also suffered stab wounds to his arm and head injuries.

Mr Ahmed had to undergo two operations and was in hospital for two weeks following the attack.

Ali, of Castle Street, Brierfield, Khan, from London, and two other men, Saqib Ali, 28, of Chapel Street, and Irfan Ali, 38, of Colne Road, both Brierfield, were charged with attempted murder.

The four, who all denied attempted murder, did not give evidence at the trial at Preston Crown Court. They were found not guilty of attempted murder.

But Rizwan Ali and his nephew, Khan, were found guilty of wounding with intent and violent disorder.

Saqib Ali, was convicted of violent disorder and Irfan Ali was cleared of all charges.

Earlier in the trial the jury was told that Mr Ahmed was arrested for a murder which took place in Pakistan in December 1990. He was convicted in 1992 and sentenced to death.

But the conviction was quashed on appeal in June 1998 and while that decision was under appeal, he came to the UK in 2000, gaining citizenship in 2003.

However in December 2004 the Supreme Court in Lahore restored the murder conviction, the jury was told.

Speaking after the hearing Detective Inspector Simon Cheyte said Khan was visiting family at the mini market where Rizwan Ali was a shopkeeper when the stabbing happened.

He added it was not known who was armed with which weapons because they had never been found.

DI Cheyte said: "The aggrieved party went to the shop to act as a peacemaker after an argument started over the price of a bottle of Oasis pop.

"Mr Ahmed was wrongly identified by the people and was attacked by Zumir Khan and Rizwan Ali.

"They had knives and a small ice pick and he was stabbed at least eight times.

"If it was not for the courage of the people who came forward there would have been no way we would have been able to get the conviction.

"This is a significant result, and one that the prosecution regard as a resounding success."

Rizwan Ali, Zumir Khan and Saqib Ali will be sentenced at Preston Crown Court on June 29.