A casualty consultant has told a murder trial on Tuesday that the fatal neck injury suffered by an Indian naval officer was one of the worst he had ever seen.
Ian Anderson, who has worked in the accident and emergency department at Victoria Infirmary in Glasgow for 29 years, said that the gaping 18 centimetre wound inflicted on 30-year-old Kunal Mohanty (pictured) was rarely seen in civilian casualties.
Mr Anderson was giving evidence at the trial of 25-year-old Christopher Miller, who denies the racially aggravated murder of Mr Mohanty in Glasgow’s Bedford Lane on March 27 this year.
Mr Miller has offered a plea of guilty to culpable homicide, but this was rejected by the Crown. Mr Anderson told prosecutor Dorothy Bain QC: "It is one of the worst injuries I have seen. Blood was flowing from a massive wound it was uncontrollable. The carotid artery had been cut through and was gushing blood.
"Glasgow is a formidable city for injuries , but I have rarely seen such an extensive wound. That there was any sign of life in this man was down to the skill of the paramedics and also my team at the hospital."
The court was also told that Mr Mohanty's jugular vein had been severed. Mr Anderson added that the chance of anyone surviving such an injury was poor.
He told the court that he was called into the hospital from home and battled with his medical team for 45 minutes to save Mr Mohanty.
Pathologist Dr John Clark told the court that Mr Mohanty died from massive blood loss caused by a single wound to the neck. Dr Clark said that the injury was caused by a sharp knife drawn across his neck and it would have required substantial force to inflict.
Under cross-examination by Donald Findlay QC Dr Clark conceded that if Mr Mohanty had moved forward when the knife struck him less force would have been required to inflict the injury.
But he agreed with Ms Bain that to force one's neck forward into a knife is not a natural reaction. Earlier the court heard that Mr Moharty, who was Indian, was in Glasgow because he was due to sit exams on March 30 which would qualify him as a sea captain.
On the night he died he and three friends, who were all studying at the Nautical College in Glasgow and living in student accommodation nearby, decided to take a break from studying and went out for a meal. The court was told that Mr Mohanty was attacked while they were on their way to a restaurant.
Mr Miller also denies attempting to pervert the course of justice by disposing of clothing allegedly worn at the time of the incident by burning it within a wooded area in Prospecthilll Circus, Glasgow, or elsewhere on March 27 and April 1, this year.
He further denies acting in a racially aggravated manner at Sizzler's Takeaway in Gorbals Street, Glasgow, on March 27, this year, by making threats of violence, demanding a bladed instrument and spraying sauce over member of staff Lovepreet Singh and customers.
The trial before temporary judge John Beckett QC continues.
