Witnesses called in defence of a man accused of chopping his uncle in the head with a hoe have suggested that he actually came under attack himself.

Christopher Pond's alleged victim Howard (Hobby) Charles told Supreme Court last week that Pond went "raving mad like a wild lion" before assaulting him at the family homestead in Watlington Lane, Devonshire.

Prosecution witness, handyman Arthur Trott, said Pond shouted and swore at him prior to the incident complaining about the smell from a pig Mr. Charles kept at the property.

Mr. Charles spent a night in hospital being treated for a wound to his temple, which penetrated to the bone.

Giving evidence in his own defence last week, Pond, 41, claimed his 50-year-old uncle killed two of his pet dogs prior to the incident.

He told the jury Mr. Charles who runs the Shilo horse and carriage company hit him in the back and neck with a plank of wood after he threatened to call in the SPCA and a TV crew over the issue.

Yesterday, defence witness Melissa Trott, a neighbour of Pond's, said she noticed bruises on his back and shoulder three days after the alleged incident last March.

Ms Trott claimed she noted the injuries after Pond reacted with pain when she hugged him at a party neighbours threw to celebrate his release from Police custody.

Under cross-examination from Crown counsel Nicole Smith, Ms Trott agreed she had not been with Pond during his three days in custody and could not tell where his bruises came from.

The next witness for the defence was Wayne Coddington, who lived with the defendant in Watlington Lane at the time. Pond's lawyer Craig Attridge asked him about a fire at the property two weeks before the alleged hoe attack, in which Mr. Charles' barn burned down and one of Pond's dogs died.

Mr. Coddington said he heard Mr. Charles threaten to kill him and Pond nicknamed 'Yella' "for burning down his barn".

He further claimed that Mr. Charles ran at Pond with a plank of wood, and neighbours crowded around to protect him from being hit.

"Mr. Charles said 'I will f**k you up tonight, you burned down my barn'," he claimed.

He also alleged that, in a reference to the Pond's dog dying in the fire, "Mr. Charles was cracking jokes about does anyone want a hot dog" before taunting him about having hung his other dog.

He said Pond cried and was comforted by friends, when shouts went up of 'watch your back".

Mr. Coddington said at this point he saw Mr. Charles running at Pond with a pitchfork. Again, he said, everyone crowded around Pond to protect him from being hit.

On the date of the alleged hoe attack two weeks later, he said he witnessed Mr. Charles hit Pond across his back with a piece of wood "with no remorse whatsoever".

He said Pond tried to run away before picking up a hoe to parry the blows.

Mr. Coddington told the jury that Mr. Charles forced Pond into a barn and they fell over, with Pond underneath his uncle.

At this point, he claimed, Arthur Trott came around the corner with a pitchfork in his hand.

"Mr. Pond said 'my back, my neck, call the Police and the ambulance, I need some help'," alleged Mr. Coddington. Pond was arrested when the Police turned up.

He denies wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and the case continues.