A man stands accused of chopping his uncle in the head with a hoe after becoming enraged by "stinking pigs" at the family homestead.

A Supreme Court jury heard yesterday how Howard Charles needed stitches for a wound penetrating to the bone after the alleged attack at the hands of Christopher Pond.

Describing events at the homestead and horse stables in Watlington Lane, Devonshire, last March, handyman Arthur Trott told the jury he'd been feeding the pigs, cows and goats at the time.

He described seeing Pond, 41, arrive at the scene "making off down there, cussing and swearing". He told the court Pond got right in his face telling him: "I don't need these stinking pigs down here no more, get rid of them."

Mr. Trott, who is Pond's cousin, said he walked away and went to feed the other animals. Later that day, after visiting Mr. Charles' other stables in Canal Street, Pembroke, and telling him what happened, Mr, Trott travelled back to Watlington Lane with him and his son Codi Charles.

Pond, he said, "was still abusive from earlier" and "was still cussing and swearing, still talking about he don't need these animals stinking down there". He said the defendant then got up in Mr. Charles' face, with the latter replying "get away from me."

Some pushing ensued, he said, before Pond went inside the family home and fetched a hoe.

"Mr. Pond came out of the house with his hoe in his hand...he was chopping with it and he went towards Mr. Charles who was in the barn. He was vexed. When he got to where Mr. Charles was he said 'I'm going to f**k' you up'," recalled Mr. Trott, who turned away at this point.

He told the jury he heard a sound like someone hitting something, and turned back to see Mr. Charles unconscious on the ground with a gash on the left side of his head near his temple.

"Mr. Pond was still standing over Mr. Charles and said 'I'll kill you, you b*****d'," claimed the witness.

"The hoe was still in his hand." Mr. Trott described the alleged weapon as four feet long with a rusty metal blade.

Pond was arrested at the scene by Police Constable Paul Watson, who said his response to being detained was "unintelligible".

Police Constable Mervyn Sealey went to the scene to take pictures, describing how he photographed a "burnt-out shed," a "burnt buggy" and a hoe with red stains on it.

King Edward VII Memorial Hospital emergency physician Dr. Peter Malan told the court Mr. Charles' wound needed stitches.

The trial continues.