THE father of a man 'lucky to be alive' after he was 'sliced up' with a Stanley knife says 'gypsy lives matter' and believes police did not act quickly enough to secure evidence, blaming 'racism'.

Sammy Smith suffered a deep cut to his arm and another to his chest after an alleged attack on him by a man wielding a Stanley knife at a caravan site near Worcester.

However, the man he says was responsible for the assault, Wayne Smith, was cleared of wounding with intent by a jury at Worcester Crown Court on Friday. Mr Smith's father, Sam Smith senior, says he still wants justice for his son and has released photographs of the horrific injuries he says his son sustained in an attack the site in Duffledown View, Wyre Piddle Bypass, Upper Moor near Pershore on December 7 last year.

In the trial the prosecution said the Stanley knives seized from the suspect did not match the description of the ones said to have been used in the attack and, when police arrived at the suspect's home, 'the washing was on' and 'nothing of relevance was seized'.

"When asked about the injuries he (the accused) suggested that Sammy Smith had inflicted them upon himself," the prosecutor told the court, a claim dismissed by the complainant's father.

Mr Smith said he rang the police at around 8.30pm after the alleged attack on his son but that it took officers 'six hours' to arrest the suspect. The court heard that an arrest was made at 12.40am the next morning which the prosecution said was five hours after the alleged incident.

Mr Smith has argued that this would give any person accused of an offence time to dispose of any evidence in the case, including any weapons or clothing. He believes there was 'a touch of racism' in the level of response to the emergency call because his family are Romani gypsies.

However, he said an officer from CID had called him to say 'sorry, it didn't go our way'. Mr Smith said: "There has been a big-time miscarriage of justice. I want justice for my son. This is not right. The nurse told him at the hospital 'someone is looking down on you tonight'. The cut was a cigarette paper away from the main artery (in his arm). He even had a stab wound in his chest. They were telling us he self-harmed. You don't stab yourself in the chest. My son is absolutely sane. He's 23 years old - he's just a kid. He's lucky to be alive - they tried to murder him and they even said 'your dad is going to lose his oldest son tonight' as they were cutting him."

In total Sammy Smith had 32 stitches, inside and outside, and was in Worcestershire Royal Hospital in Worcester for three hours. Mr Smith said the man who had done this to his son was 'an absolute animal and a bully'.

Mr Smith also says he has himself been attacked at a funeral when men came at him with machetes, knives and acid in coke bottles. "I've had a long life of torture" he said.

He now says he intends to lodge a complaint against West Mercia Police on the grounds of racism. "They did not act quickly enough because of racism. Our lives matter. Gypsy lives matter."

West Mercia Police was unavailable for comment.