ONE of the three North-East football fans stabbed when extremist hooligans went on the rampage in Rome is a man at the centre of one of the region's most notorious killings.

The Northern Echo can reveal that a 39-year-old Middlesbrough fan who was the most badly hurt in the violence in the Italian capital is David Allison.

Mr Allison fatally stabbed Teesside hardman Lee Duffy during a brawl outside a club, but walked free from court when a jury accepted he acted in self-defence.

Last night, The Northern Echo was told Mr Allison had undergone surgery for knife wounds to his back and chest and was still in hospital, but he could be flown home today.

Sources said Mr Allison was in no way to blame as Boro's latest trip to Europe turned into a bloodbath.

Italian thugs known as "Ultras" were said to have started the violence that marred the build-up to the UEFA Cup tie against AS Roma.

Two other fans from the North-East were stabbed and a further ten needed treatment for cuts and bruises after trouble flared at a pub in Rome city centre.

Police said well-organised, masked hooligans armed with weapons threw flares and bottles into The Drunken Ship pub, in the Campo dei Fiori piazza, while Boro fans ate and drank on Tuesday night.

It is said they then clashed with their rivals and attacked them with knives and small axes before police were able to restore order.

Witnesses said many of the supporters from England were in family groups and were peacefully enjoying their first night in the capital when "all hell broke loose".

One fan told The Northern Echo: "It was terrifying. There was uproar. It was just carnage."

An Italian witness claimed heavy-handed police were also to blame for some of the injuries suffered by the travelling supporters and accused baton-wielding officers of treating them "like beasts".

Superintendent Steve Swales, of Cleveland Police, was in Rome to help monitor fans and prevent any potential trouble.

He said some of the "Ultras" - who covered their faces with crash helmets, scarves and bandanas - had been carrying knives, sticks and small-handled hand axes.

He said: "Clearly people were terrified. They were running for their lives."

Middlesbrough supporter Peter Green, 43, was hit with a cosh and his 18-year-old son, Andrew, was stabbed when they were caught up in the trouble.

Mr Green, a married utility company engineer from Stockton, needed three stitches in a head wound.

He said he was also beaten by police who baton-charged the cowering fans.

His son, who is studying law and criminology at Sheffield Halam University, initially thought the pain in his back was from a police baton but then realised he had been knifed.

Fellow fan Neil Andrews, 39, from Seaton Carew, Hartlepool, said: "It was a crazy experience. The group of lads I was with managed to get away from it, but there was totally no need for it.

"It could have all got a lot worse."

An Italian bar worker who gave his name as Lorenzo said: "The police came into the bar with batons and physically forced the fans, many of whom were families with wives and children, to get out of the bar, treating them as though they were beasts."

As many as 200 of the 3,500 Boro fans were drinking in the square and singing when more than 30 armed "Ultras" wearing black and ski masks arrived and started throwing missiles.

Supt Swales said a handful of Boro supporters started to fight back but stressed they were not to blame for the violence.

"Five arrests were made by the Italian police and the fact that all of them were Italian illustrates who is to blame for this situation," he said.

"I'm absolutely satisfied this situation was wholly orchestrated by them."

Last November, supporter Breandan O'Connor, 36, was killed and his 38-year-old friend, Howard Boville, was seriously injured in a stabbing after Boro's game against AZ Alkmaar in Amsterdam.

The club's first European match against Banik Ostrava, in the Czech Republic, last season, was marred by fighting in the stands, while this season there have also been clashes in Zurich.

Police said a 31-year-old was the third stabbing victim, but was released from hospital after treatment.

At his trial in 1993, Mr Allison said he believed former amateur boxer Mr Duffy, 26, was carrying a gun when they clashed outside the AfroWest Indian Club, in Marton Road, in August 1991.

The scaffolder, then aged 26, was handed the knife by a friend as Mr Duffy repeatedly banged his head on the ground as he got the better of him in the brawl.

Mr Duffy was said to have challenged him in the bar of the centre and agreed to go outside to fight because he did not want to look like a coward.