A man has gone on trial accused of assaulting a teenager by driving a car at him and leaving him severely injured.

Maxi Haggerty, 19, allegedly ran down Alfred Low after an argument at an 18th birthday party and left him permanently impaired on August 23, 2008.

On Monday the jury at Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard Mr Low spent two months in hospital following the alleged incident.

The court heard he suffered a brain injury and was now likely to use a wheelchair for the rest of his life.

The court was shown photographs of the youth in intensive care and heard he could not respond to commands.

Giving evidence, Ian Watt, 47, of Aberdeen, said he watched a man being knocked into the air by a car after a disagreement at his step-daughter's party.

He said he had been standing outside the function suite near Balgownie Road, Aberdeen, when he saw a silver car pulling in.

He told the court: "A car reversed in about and there was a girl shouting out the car. She eventually got out and started a bit of a fuss.

"I wasn't paying too much attention at the time. There was an interaction. Someone shouted, 'Look, just go away. You haven't been invited'."

The IT engineer said the car left but returned about 15 minutes later and the argument kicked off again.

He said he started to follow the car as it "aggressively revved" back up the road in the hope that the driver would then leave the area.

However, a male from the party ran past him and ended up being knocked down.

He said: "The car did a big swoop on the wrong side of the road. The next thing I saw was a shadow of a person going into the air and I heard a thud."

Haggerty, of Manor Drive, faces an alternative charge of dangerous driving which caused a collision and left Mr Low with serious injuries. He denies the charges.