A man punched another man at a Perth hotel after their wives got into a fight over a reserved pokie machine, a jury has heard.
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Christopher Allan McCulloch, of Whitemore, has pleaded not guilty to assaulting Adam Cawthen at the Queens Head Inn on March 19, 2017.
The court heard Mr Cawthen and his wife Olivia walked to the pub about 3pm after having a few Boags Red stubbies at home, got another beer on arrival and both started playing the pokies.
Mr Cawthen allegedly heard two women arguing while he was playing a pokie machine, so he got up to see what was happening.
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The court heard Mrs Cawthen put a reserved sign on a machine and went for a cigarette, but the sign had been removed.
Mr McCulloch's wife Natalie was sitting on the neighbouring machine and the two women started arguing over the removal of the sign, with the women getting into a short scuffle after Mrs McCulloch was pushed.
Mr Cawthen allegedly pushed Mrs McCulloch away while trying to separate the two women, which led to Mr McCulloch grabbing Mr Cawthen by the throat, pushing him away from the women and punching him twice to the head.
While giving evidence, Mr Cawthen said the last thing he remembered before regaining consciousness on the floor was reaching for his wife to pull her away.
The pub's manager went to see Mr Cawthen and his wife shortly after the alleged incident and insisted on driving Mr Cawthen to the Launceston General Hospital.
LGH medical services director Dr Peter Renshaw gave evidence about the hospital admission.
An examination of Mr Cawthen's eye found he had a fractured eye socket, an obvious black eye and a small bleed in the white area of his left eye, the court heard.
Dr Renshaw told the court the medical records showed Mr Cawthen said he was conscious during the entire incident.
In an interview with police on May 12, 2018, Mr McCulloch said he hit Mr Cawthen to get him off his wife.
"He just went for her," Mr McCulloch said.
"When two people are attacking your wife what are you going to do."
Crown prosecutor John Ransom told the court Mr Cawthen wasn't a threat, Mr McCulloch was simply angry someone touched his wife.
But defence lawyer Katarina Gouden told the jury they needed to determine whether Mr McCulloch acted in self defence when he punched Mr Cawthen.
When Christopher took the stand, Mr Ransom asked why he threw the punches when he'd already moved Mr Cawthen away from Mrs McCulloch.
Mr McCulloch said he didn't know and it all happened very quickly.
Mr McCulloch said he used a force of about five out of 10 and only hit Mr Cawthen to get him away from Mrs McCulloch.
The court also heard from Mrs Cawthen, who said Mrs McCulloch reeled off expletives and generic insults after being asked about the reserved sign on the machine.
The trial before Justice Michael Brett will continue on August 6.
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