A former soldier who was allegedly stabbed 10 times by a man who had a kitchen knife taped to his hand told a jury he had blocked out all memory of the attack.

Christopher Boyle said he remembered having a “chilled evening” drinking with family and friends at a house in Faifley.

He said he was “having a carry on” by climbing onto garage roofs as he walked home with his friend Kerry Brown at around 3am.

“We thought it was a good idea at the time,” he told the High Court at Livingston on Friday.

But when asked if someone come to his attention, he said: “I don't remember. That whole time of the year I’ve just blanked out.”

He said the next thing he remembered was waking up in the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital with stab wounds on his torso, buttock, leg and hands.

He explained: “I suffered from post traumatic stress (PTSD) when I was in the Army. I block out things that happen to me.

“I did fly over to Afghanistan for just under month. I was on patrol with the Argylls, 5 Scots.”

He said he had been diagnosed with PTSD by an Army doctor when he left the military in 2010.

He said he didn’t remember giving statements to police or identifying his attacker from police mugshots and a video identification parade.

He explained: “I’d just been stabbed 10 times and obviously I was on a lot of medication. I was just out of a nine and a half hour operation and I was full of morphine.”

However, he agreed with advocate depute Stewart Ronnie that he had no reason to lie when he told police what had happened.

He agreed he had signed his statements which Mr Ronnie read out to the jury.

One said: “We both began to climb on the roof and I suddenly noticed a guy at the bottom of the roofs. The guy must have come from Watchmeal Crescent and was going towards Faifley Road.

“Me and Kerry were still up on the roof and he began arguing with Kerry. He just seemed really drunk and agitated and almost looked as if he wanted to fight.

“Because he was arguing with Kerry I jumped down from the roofs and Kerry was still up on the roofs. I told the guy he should just walk away and he should just leave it.”

He said he and the other man began to argue.

He went on: “I felt him hit me in the stomach towards the left hand side. I then took a step back and he’s punched me again to the left had side.

“I then punched him. I floored him and stood over him telling him to leave and let us go home.

“He has then punched my leg, but it was agony and I’ve looked down and seen a knife. He has then stabbed me twice more in the leg.

“At this point I looked down and saw blood on my leg and realised I must have been stabbed in the stomach earlier when I thought he had punched me.”

He said the weapon used by his attacker was a kitchen knife with a blade between four and six inches long.

He said: “I only saw the blade and I noticed that it was taped to the palm of his hand. I started to run towards the white church and I was aware that the guy was chasing me.

“He was shouting that he was going to kill me and he was calling me a beast. I jumped over the fence and used that as a barrier to defend myself.”

In desperation, he said he knocked the door of the house but there was no answer.

He added: “Kerry jumped down from the roofs and was following us as we were running and I heard her on the phone to the ambulance.

“At this point I kind of blacked out and don't really remember much. I remember him stabbing my hands when I was at then house because I was using them to protect my face.”

He later gave police a detailed description of his assailant and in court identified the accused David Gallagher as his attacker.

Mr Gallagher, a prisoner at Barlinnie in Glasgow, denies repeatedly striking Mr Boyle on the body with a knife and pursuing him during the alleged incident in Faifley, on October 8, 2017.

The charge states that the 25-year-old’s alleged attack at garages to the rear of one property in Faifley Road and in the garden of a second Faifley Road property caused Mr Boyle severe injury, permanent disfigurement and endangered his life.

The trial, before Lord Burns, continues.