Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

‘I can still hear the sound of his head bouncing off the ground’

John and Sylvia Gallagher and their 30-year-old daughter Charlie
John and Sylvia Gallagher and their 30-year-old daughter Charlie

A woman told a court yesterday that she could still hear the sound a man’s head made as it “bounced” off the ground during a brawl outside an Aberdeen bar.

Erica McLennan told the High Court in Aberdeen that she looked out of her window after hearing the disturbance in the city’s Hayton Road, Tillydrone unfold – and that she felt most sorry for the man wearing a plum jacket, who was being “taken out of the equation”.

Matthew Boyle, 42, and Kevin Deans, 40 are on trial accused of attempting to murder the Gallagher family, from Inverness, by repeatedly stabbing them after a charity night at the Broadsword bar.

The pair allegedly attacked John, 64, his wife Sylvia, 55, and daughter Charlie, 30, with a knife and left them with permanent scarring and life-threatening injuries.

The pair deny the charges. Boyle – who the court has heard was wearing a plum jacket when he was arrested – has lodged a special defence of self-defence and claims he was attacked first.

Yesterday, Ms McLennan told the court that her former address used to overlook the bar and she had seen parts of the evening’s events unfold on August 29 last year.

Giving evidence, the 47-year-old said she was used to hearing disturbances coming from the bar, especially at weekends.

Miss McLennan said that on this occasion the pub had been especially quiet until just after midnight.

She said while she looked out her bedroom window she could see a group had formed in front of a silver people carrier which was partially obstructing her view.

She said: “It was as though it was a scuffle. There was a man in a plum jacket who was being taken out of the equation. One thing stuck in my head. The noise that man’s head

made when he struck the ground and it seemed to bounce.”

Miss McLennan added that after the man hit the ground she watched two women stamping and kicking his head. She said when the attack was finished the man picked himself up and “tried to explain something” in a “non threatening manner” before he walked off.

She said at this point a woman in a “luminous” top sat down on some steps nearby and said she had been stabbed.

When asked who, if anyone, she had sympathy for that night Miss McLennan said “the man in the plum jacket”.

The trial, before Lord Burns, is expected to continue on Monday.