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A father has told how a pal struck him on the head with a hammer after he tried to stop him attacking another man.
William McMaster said Trenton Musgrave told him: “We are supposed to be friends.”
Mr McMaster said he replied: “You are the one with the hammer.”
Musgrave, 29, of Melville Road, Maidstone, is on trial at Maidstone Crown Court with Liam Quinnell, 26, of Bicknor Road, Maidstone.
They both deny attempted murder and an alternative charge of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
Mr McMaster, 35, said a “social gathering” at a flat at Trafalgar House in Boxley Road, Maidstone, on June 14 this year with friends.
“I had three cans of cider the whole day,” he said. “I am not really a drinker. I am not one for being drunk.”
Quinnell, Musgrave and Alan Murray turned up there later in the evening. He did not know Mr Murray.
“They came across as drunk and excited,” he said. “They were all smiles. The drink made them too vocal. They were very loud.”
The host Brian Johnston asked them to leave and they did so without any problems.
Mr McMaster said he went to check on his car around midnight and bumped into the three men coming out of a flat downstairs.
He joined them to “have a smoke of the illegal stuff”. They all went to Musgrave’s car and he drove off up Boxley Road.
“Alan and Trenton were exchanging words,” he continued. “They had an altercation near the TA centre. The car ground to a halt. They got out of the car and Trenton started laying into him.
“Alan had a bloody nose. He landed on the floor in the middle of the road. I can’t remember what it was about. The hammer to the head has affected me.
“I saw Trenton punch him a few times to the face. I jumped out. I was trying to stop the threats from being something silly. Alan was on the floor.
“Trenton was trying to stamp on his head. I pulled him off. He wasn’t happy. That’s when he started turning towards me. He said: ‘We are supposed to be friends.’
“I picked Alan up. He said: ‘We need to get out of there.’ He ran into the TA centre to go and hide up. Trenton chased after him in his vehicle.
“I made my way down Boxley Road. He was driving aggressively like it was a rally track. He was trying to run me down. I am running in and out of gardens trying to get away from him.
“I was trying to save my bacon. Luckily I wasn’t drunk. If I was drunk I probably wouldn’t be here now. I would be under the car.”
Mr McMaster said Musgrave got out of the car and tried to hit him.
“He was in a boxing stance trying to swing,” he said. “I was trying to swing in self-defence. I believe I struck him.
“The second time he got out of his vehicle he has got the hammer in his hand. He said: ‘We are supposed to be friends.’ I replied: ‘You are the one with the hammer.’
"He swung the hammer. I thought when I saw it: ‘I don’t stand a chance.’ I thought he would continue to hit me with it, which he did" - William McMaster
“I was running as fast as I could. He ran after me. I had my back to him. He caught up with me and hit me on the back on my shoulder blades. It hurt.
“I turned around. It was the only time I hit him. He swung the hammer. I thought when I saw it: ‘I don’t stand a chance.’ I thought he would continue to hit me with it, which he did.
“He hit me on the side of my head. He went back to his vehicle and left me staggering. I fell to the floor.”
Mr McMaster said he remembered Lisa King talking to him and then being in an ambulance.
“I don’t remember the other man getting out of the car,” he said. I didn’t see him do anything whatsoever.”
Part of his skull was shattered. He was taken to Pembury Hospital after discussion about whether he should be treated at London’s King’s College Hospital.
