Court is told attack victim came close to losing his life
Surgeon describes emergency surgery to deal with stabbing wounds
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A surgeon told Elgin Sheriff Court yesterday that a stabbing victim had been at risk of losing his life.
Simon Cole, 42, a consultant surgeon at Dr Gray’s Hospital at Elgin, treated Anthony Mager, who required emergency surgery after being stabbed at 34 Moycroft Road, Elgin, on September 22 last year.
Mr Cole gave evidence on the third day of the jury trial of Shaun Willetts, 20, who denies repeatedly stabbing Mr Mager, his stepfather.
The jury had already heard evidence from the victim, his wife, Helen, and her brother, Donald Cameron, who were in the house on the night of the incident, as well as several police officers involved in the case.
Defence solicitor Ian Houston had launched two special defences – that Willetts had acted in self-defence and that his mother, Helen, had stabbed Mr Mager rather than he.
Mr Cole told the court that, when he saw Mr Mager in the accident and emergency department at Dr Gray’s, he “required intervention because of the nature of his injuries”.
He said Mr Mager was given a general anaesthetic to allow surgeons to operate on a deep cut to his left wrist.
Mr Cole also performed a laparotomy on his abdomen to find out if there was any serious internal damage.
When asked the length of the cut he made to Mr Mager’s abdomen, Mr Cole replied “at least 12 inches”.
He said he repaired a small tear to Mr Mager’s small intestine before using about 25 stitches to close the wound.
Procurator fiscal Sharon Ralph asked Mr Cole if the wounds were consistent with someone being stabbed by a knife, and he replied: “Yes.”
Asked if his patient was at risk of losing his life, Mr Cole replied: “Certainly in the first two or three days he came fairly close to needing a ventilator and intensive care.”
He told the court: “There was risk of an abdominal infection, peritonitis, which would take a bit of time to develop, but which would be potentially fatal.
“A laparotomy is a very high-risk operation to a patient.”
Mr Cole said he considered the injuries to be severe and confirmed there would be permanent scarring as a result.
Mr Mager was in the high-dependency unit for three to four days before being transferred to a ward.
Questioned by defence solicitor Ian Houston, Willetts blamed his mother for the attack.
He told the court he had found his mother and father arguing when he went to the house at about 9pm.
Willetts said Mr Mager first punched him on the shoulder and there was a scuffle between them. He said he then punched Mr Mager “a couple of times on the head” but left the house at that point because he was afraid of Mr Mager, and headed to a friend’s house.
He said: “Mum shouted after me. I waited for her in the playing fields up the road.
“She had blood on her jeans and her top. She told me she’d stabbed Tony.”
Under cross-examination by the fiscal, Willetts maintained that it was his mother who had stabbed Mr Mager.
The trial continues.
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