Stab victim left with insides ‘hanging out’

Aaron Gray, 23, left father-of-three Mark Miller bleeding heavily from wounds following the assault near a branch of Pizza Hut in Edinburgh’s Stockbridge area.

Surgeons had to carry out an emergency operation on the victim to repair his injured bowel and blood vessels.

Gray admitted attempting to murder Mr Miller, 26, on April 3 this year at Raeburn Place, after changing his plea during a trial at the High Court in the city.

Mr Miller, a hospital worker who also worked as a delivery driver for the restaurant chain, said he was heading back to the outlet when he became aware of a male shouting, whom he did not know.

He said he had ignored him and the man left the scene in a car, but returned minutes later.

“He came running towards me. It happened that quick,” he said, explaining that the pair then got involved in “a scuffle”.

Mr Miller said he did not feel any blows and did not see his attacker holding anything.

He said: “I managed to get up on to my feet. I was still holding on to him. Then I just let go of him. Then I put my hand to my stomach and I realised I had been stabbed. My insides were hanging out.”

Advocate depute Graeme Jessop said that Gray had been in Franco’s chip shop and made his way towards the victim shouting and pointing aggressively and threatening violence, before being pulled back by others.

He said a friend, Imran Nabi, drove Gray away, intending to take him home. The prosecutor said: “However, the accused insisted on returning to the scene, stating that he had left his mobile phone at the scene.”

Mr Nabi turned his car round and drove back and when he stopped, Gray ran towards the victim who tried to hold him off, before he was stabbed three times.

Paramedics who were called described Mr Miller’s intestines as hanging out from the wound to his stomach.

Surgeons used stitches and staples to close his wounds after carrying out internal repairs to the injuries.

Mr Jessop said the surgeon was of the opinion that the injuries were life-threatening if it were not for the immediate medical intervention.

Police made attempts to trace Gray at several addresses following the attack, before he later handed himself in at a police station.

The victim suffered anxiety and depression following the assault. He said he now finds it very difficult to go out on his own and remains off work following the attack.

Sentence was deferred until January for the preparation of a background report.