An armed attacker inflicted a life-threatening injury on a man after stabbing him in the back with a large kitchen knife in Inverness.
William Smith, 23, had earlier clashed with his victim on the phone during an abusive call before launching the brutal assault.
His victim suffered a collapsed lung and spent a month in hospital following the assault.
Advocate depute Greg Farrell told the High Court in Edinburgh today: “The initial injury from the stab wound to the left chest was immediately life-threatening due to blood loss and pneumothorax.”
Smith, of no fixed abode, admitted assaulting the victim to his severe injury, permanent disfigurement and to the danger of his life on July 28 last year at Esk Road, Inverness, by striking him on the body with a knife.
The court heard that the Liverpudlian has previous convictions for knife possession, battery, possession of an imitation gun and road traffic offences.
‘Are you the Scouser?’
Mr Farrell said the assault victim was at a grass area between Old Town Road and Esk Road when the broad daylight attack took place.
The prosecutor said that earlier in the day the victim had been drinking with a friend. He later went with others to an address with the intention of sourcing drugs but a row broke out over the purchase of crack cocaine before they left.
Mr Farrell said: “On leaving the area, [the complainer] received a phone call from a number he did not recognise.”
He answered the call and Smith asked him if he had been trying to carry out a robbery during the earlier incident.
The advocate depute told the court: “The complainer and the accused were verbally abusive to each other during this phone call.”
The complainer was later at the grassy area when he saw Smith approaching with an unknown male and shouted: “Are you the Scouser?”
He ran towards Smith with a bottle in his hand and an argument broke out between the pair. They circled a parked car before the complainer threw the bottle, which missed Smith.
The prosecutor said: “At this juncture, the accused had a large kitchen knife with a black handle.
“[The complainer] turned from the accused and Smith caught up with him and stabbed him in the back. The accused then ran from the scene.”
The stabbing victim fell to the ground outside a block of flats and witnesses tried to help him as the emergency services were alerted.
He was found to have suffered a collapsed lung, which had pushed against the working lung causing him to be unable to breathe.
Paramedics managed to decompress the left side of his chest and he was able to breathe on his way to Raigmore Hospital.
Mr Farrell said it was estimated that the stabbing victim had lost almost four litres of blood. He was taken to intensive care and given blood transfusions.
He later underwent further surgery at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary before being transferred back to Raigmore where he was weaned from a ventilator.
Mr Farrell told the court: “He has permanent scars from the stab wound and the surgical incisions.”
The judge, Lord Fairley, deferred sentence on Smith, who is in prison, for the preparation of a background report.
Smith is due to be sentenced on July 28 at the High Court in Glasgow.