A court has been told a man will “never fully recover” from injuries he sustained when his head struck a pavement in the city centre after he was punched.
Craig Johnston spent months in hospital, where he needed to have part of his skull removed, and he is unable to live independently.
The information emerged in a joint minute of agreement, read to the jury during the trial of 21-year-old Curtis Kane at the High Court in Aberdeen.
Kane, of Printfield Terrace, Aberdeen, is accused of assaulting Mr Johnston by struggling with him, and punching him on the head, causing him to fall to the ground on August 6 last year on Crown Street.
It’s said this caused severe injury, permanent impairment and was to the danger of his life.
Kane denies the charge and has entered a special defence of self defence.
Advocate Depute Lisa Gillespie told the jury, in a joint minute, that Mr Johnston struck his head shortly after 1am.
He was admitted to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary where he was found to have bleeding in the brain and a fractured skull, part of which was later removed.
He was ultimately released into the care of his partner.
Miss Gillespie said: “He will never fully recover from his injuries and will not be able to live independently. He will never be able to work and is not well enough to attend court.”
Kane, who gave evidence on his own behalf, told his defence counsel Lorenzo Alonzi he had been buying cigarettes with his girlfriend and noticed two men, Mr Johnston and his friend, standing close to a woman.
Kane asked them what they were doing and to leave the woman alone. He added, as he was driving back towards Union Street, one of the men “gestured” at him to stop.
The court was shown CCTV footage which shows a “tussle”.
Advocate Depute Lisa Gillespie asked Kane if he had punched Mr Johnston to the face, and Kane said “yes.”
In a closing speech to the jury, Miss Gillespie said it was an “absurd” suggestion that Kane was acting in self defence.
She said: “I would suggest that even if you believe every word of the accused’s evidence, you convict him anyway, because what he did does not meet the legal test for self defence.”
The trial continues.
