Scot denies leaving man scarred for life and claims alleged victim was 'neighbour from hell'

A 62-year-old man has denied stabbing his neighbour and leaving him scarred for life in a knife attack.

James McLaughlin denies assaulting next door neighbour Craig Mullen outside their homes.

McLaughlin described Mullen as a neighbour "from hell" and said he was actually the aggressor and the one with the knife on the day in question.

He said it was "a kitchen knife with a serrated edge" and that he disarmed Mullen before disposing of the weapon in a nearby scheme.

McLaughlin is on trial at Greenock Sheriff Court accused of attacking Mullen outside their homes in Port Glasgow.

Mullen was left nursing knife wounds to his back and stomach after the incident in July 2024.

But McLaughlin denies assaulting Mullen, saying he acted in self-defence, and that Mullen got injured by accident as he disarmed him.

Giving evidence in his own defence today, McLaughlin said: "I approached him to tell him to stop his carry on as he put me through two years of hell.

"That man threatened to put a knife through my four-year-old grandson.

"I reported it to the police but the police never done anything about it.

"He had a knife on him when I walked down.

"I was going to tell him to stop it - everything, all the carry on he's put me through.

"I was trying to reason with him. I did not stab him."

He was asked by prosecutor Maria Murdoch how Mullen came by his injuries.

He said: "I never stabbed him, that was during the struggle for the knife - it can only be that.

"You're trying to say I stabbed him. I did not. I got the knife off him and I went."

Part of the incident was captured on camera and was shown to the court.

McLaughlin said: "You see me taking the knife off him and walking away."

McLaughlin told the court that after he disarmed Mullen he left the area, as he was going to a barbecue in memory of his daughter, who had died in July 2021.

He said he put the knife in a bin at his ex-wife's house and never contacted the police because he considered the matter to be over.

He said: "As far as I was concerned I had a cut and I didn't think he was injured so I was just willing to let it go."

And the jury was told that, when he was cautioned by police after being detained over the incident, McLaughlin replied: "S****. I was the one assaulted, I just defended myself."

McLaughlin is alleged to have attacked Mullen in Stanton Square, Port Glasgow, on July 13, 2024.

Prosecutors claim he repeatedly stabbed Mullen with a knife to his severe injury and permanent disfigurement.

He also denies a charge of being in possession of a knife in a public place without reasonable excuse or lawful authority.

The trial, before Sheriff Anthony McGeehan, continues.