A strip club patron who was left "bleeding everywhere" after being stabbed in the chest during a brawl said he was defending himself, but the lawyer for the man with the knife argued his client was the one "outnumbered, outmuscled, and out of options".
An ACT Supreme Court trial beginning on Tuesday heard that in the early hours of July 17 in 2021, two men were left with knife-inflicted wounds during a brawl between two groups of people at the front of the Wanderlust Gentleman's Club in Mitchell.
Clubgoer Joshua Demczyszyn sustained a 5cm-deep stab wound on his chest, leaving him hospitalised for several days that included surgery.
Mr Demczyszyn also suffered what he described as a "big slice down the left side of my head".
Security guard Ian Robertson sustained a cut to one of his hands, which also needed surgery.
The court heard that prior to the fight outside, there was one inside the club about 4.50am on the day.
Mr Demczyszyn and his two friends had gone outside to look for someone involved in the first fight.
Joshua Sammuel Collins, who is on trial, and two of his friends also exited the club before the two groups crossed paths at the club's carpark.
Words were exchanged, triggering Mr Demczyszyn and one of Collins' friends to start grappling before the former allegedly punched the latter.
Prosecutor Morgan Howe during his opening address said the case against Collins was that he used a folding knife to stab Mr Demczyszyn after pulling him from behind.
When Mr Robertson intervened, Collins allegedly swung the knife at the security guard, cutting one of his hands.
Another guard had to restrain Collins before the knife was handed to police.
Mr Demczyszyn then ran back inside the club where he stayed for more than one hour before presenting himself to police.
A focus of the trial is on self-defence, which includes defending others, related to Collins' knife use, with the prosecution bearing the onus to exclude it.
The accused, 30, pleaded not guilty to two counts of inflicting grievous bodily harm, with one being intentional and the other being reckless.
The jury was played security footage of the outside incident before Mr Demczyszyn was called to give evidence.
He said he was allegedly king hit during the fight inside, which did not involve Collins and his friends, before going outside to avoid the situation.
"All I remember is me turning around and there were these three dudes," Mr Demczyszyn said.
"They pointed at me and started coming up to me then one said something ... that's when the attack happened.
"It was pretty traumatising so I don't want to remember it."
Mr Demczyszyn said he tried to defend himself and initially thought the stab to his chest was a punch.
Once he ran back inside the club, he tried to get help and "to find something to cover my blood".
Mr Demczyszyn said he went into shock and could not move, so he sat down when another security guard said "you're purple, you're bleeding everywhere" before he was helped to an ambulance.
During cross examination by defence lawyer Edward Chen, Mr Demczyszyn said after allegedly being king hit, he "woke up to my senses" and "tried to find out who was hitting me".
Mr Chen took Mr Demczyszyn to his police statement that had him saying he did not have any concerns for Collins so he did not focus on him during the altercation.
Mr Chen suggested that this was because Collins was "much smaller than you physically".
He also suggested that Mr Demczyszyn did not seek help but rather tried to avoid authorities.
Mr Chen in his opening said while there was agreement about a number of important factors, including that Collins used a knife and did cause the wounds, his client was "outnumbered, outmuscled, and out of options".
He said Collins resorted to the knife when his friend was allegedly being punched and the cut to Mr Robertson's hand may have been accidental as the accused was being thrown backwards.
Whether grievous bodily harm occurred was also questioned, with the defence lawyer saying Mr Robertson's hand was now fully healed and where Demczyszyn was stabbed was "the most superficial muscle in the pectoral region".
Mr Chen said the jury would "hear evidence that he [Collins] has never been charged or been convicted of any crimes of violence before".
The court heard other witnesses and medical experts would give evidence during the trial, expected to take four days, before Justice Michael Elkaim.
