A HOLIDAYMAKER who knocked out two frail pensioners on an all-inclusive cruise told police he was acting in self-defence after being threatened with a crutch, a court heard.

Graeme Finlay, 53, denies unlawfully wounding a 70-year-old Teesside man who was using the walking aid and was carrying two hot chocolates for him and his wife, 68.

Mr Finlay, from Glasgow, also denies inflicting grievous bodily harm on the woman outside the couple's cabin while they were cruising off Lanzarote in January 2014.

Teesside Crown Court heard yesterday (Tuesday) how the grandfather suffered a gash to the forehead which needed six stitches when he was repeatedly punched and knocked out.

Prosecutor Lewis Kerr told the jury that the victim's wife was later found to have fractured two vertebrae after being shoved against a wall, causing her to lose consciousness.

Mr Finlay was thrown off the Thomson Celebration, and after the couple contacted police in the UK, he said he hit the man in self-defence, but he denied attacking his wife.

The man, who has had a hip replacement and walks with a crutch, said he and his wife had dinner, went to a cabaret bar and took part in a music quiz before "turning in" at 1am.

He was carrying their two mugs of hot chocolate back to their cabin when he was punched in the corridor, while his wife - who has osteoporosis - was holding the door open.

He told the jury of nine women and three men: "I turned my head to the left and the next thing I knew, I was coming to on the floor with various people around me."

His wife added: "When I turned I just saw this great big guy . . . every time he punched [her husband] in the face there was blood. I still have nightmares.

"I put my hand on his arm and said 'stop it, leave him alone, you're going to kill him . . . I was shouting, I was scared, I was absolutely terrified."

The couple both denied there had been any arguments that evening, but Peter Kilgour, defending, suggested they had snubbed Mr Finlay when he joined them at their table.

The British Gas worker, of Meadowside Quay Walk, Glasgow, was said to have later found himself in a lift with the couple, and said: "You ignored me, I want an apology."

Mr Finlay claims that the man's response was to tell him to 'f*** off', and he said the argument continued as they got out of the lift on the fourth deck.

Under cross-examination from Mr Kilgour, it was put to the male complainant: "Mr Finlay walked away and you called him a rude w***** and lashed out at him with your crutch."

The man replied: "No, never in my life have I hit anyone, not even my wife, you can ask her."

The trial continues.