Man stabbed after complaining about loud music

Michael Muir, 28, needed emergency surgery to stem the bleeding from stab wounds to his back, which also punctured a lung.

"I felt like I was a gonner," he told the High Court in Edinburgh.

Police found Mr Muir lying, groaning, in a street in Gorebridge, Midlothian, with Sean Wilson trying to staunch the blood with a towel.

PC Ross Young said he asked the first aider if he knew who had attacked Mr Muir and Wilson replied: "It was me."

He went on to claim that he had struck out because Mr Muir had indecently assaulted a girl living in the hostel in Hunterfield Road - an allegation which Mr Muir described as "nonsense."

Wilson, 21, of Gorebridge, denied attempting to murder Mr Wilson last December 3.

A jury found him guilty of a reduced charge of assaulting Mr Muir to the danger of his life - deleting the allegation that the knife attack was a murder bid and telling judge Michael O'Grady that they thought Wilson was acting under provocation.

Mr Muir, giving evidence, agreed he might have had a dart in his hand when he went to complain about the music blasting from the hostel room.

He said Wilson, a guest in the room, started giving him abuse. "I had a bit of a shouting match with him."

Mr Muir continued: "The next thing I realised there was a knife. I put my hands up to protect my face and felt a sharp sensation in the back - twice."

After the jury's majority verdict the court heard that Wilson had previous convictions for a serious assault, using a bottle as a weapon, and for "culpable and reckless conduct" involving a petrol bomb.

Judge O'Grady said Wilson's record caused him some concern and called for background reports.

Wilson was remanded in custody pending sentence in Glasgow on September 1.