A teenager underwent two hours of emergency surgery after his throat was cut during a fracas outside a north-east pub.
Ryan Dalgarno was left permanently scarred after the incident in the car park of the Croft Inn near New Aberdour.
Shaun Downie went on trial at Peterhead Sheriff Court yesterday accused of assaulting him to his severe injury, permanent impairment, permanent disfigurement and to the danger of his life.
It is alleged the 30-year-old struck Mr Dalgarno on the face and neck with a glass.
Downie, of 8 Dundarg Road, Rosehearty, denies the charge and his solicitor, Sam Milligan, told the jury yesterday that he had been “wrongly incriminated”.
Mr Dalgarno was on a night out with friends on September 6 and was outside the Croft Inn with his girlfriend outside.
The 20-year-old joiner told the court yesterday that he could only remember turning around to see what people in the pub’s car park were shouting about before he was hit in the face.
He added he was not sure who had struck him.
He lost a tooth and suffered a burst lip, but claimed it was only after he turned to face his girlfriend he realised blood was coming from a wound in his neck.
He said: “There was quite a loud noise behind me when I lit my cigarette, people shouting.
“I just remember turning around and getting hit. I knew my teeth had been knocked out and my lip was bleeding, and I was quite annoyed.
“When I turned to face my girlfriend she started crying. I started feeling blood trickling down my neck, and my T-shirt was covered. I realised it was coming from my neck. I felt light-headed.”
Doctors at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary performed a tracheotomy on Mr Dalgarno, who has been left with a visible scar nearly an inch long just below his Adam’s apple.
Fiscal depute Saima Rasheed told the court Mr Dalgarno could have died as a result of his injuries.
She said it had been agreed by the defence and prosecution that doctors had established that if the wound had been slightly to the left or right, work to stabilise Mr Dalgarno would likely have been unsuccessful.
Mr Dalgarno was found by police who went to the pub on the night of the incident. Officers also found a bloody glass.
He was inside the bar with his girlfriend, who was applying pressure to his wound with a towel.
He spent six days in hospital.
During cross-examination, Mr Milligan suggested to him that it could be claimed by witnesses later in the trial that Mr Dalgarno had approached someone at the pub and said something which led to him being attacked.
Mr Dalgarno said he could not remember if that was the case.
The trial continues.