The head of a man who died in a Hogmanay brawl made a “horrible noise” when it hit the road, Edinburgh High Court heard.
Joanne Floyd, 49, was giving evidence on the first day of the trial against Adam Valentine, 25, and Wes Reid, 20, who are accused of a string of offences on December 31 last year into the early hours of January 1.
The street brawl, which ultimately lead to Mr Fox’s death, erupted as Reid, Valentine and a female companion tried to force their way into a taxi.
It is alleged the pair assaulted Mr Fox, forcing him to fall on the road and thereafter struck him again.
The pair also face a breach of the peace charge and Valentine is accused of six other assault charges.
Reid, of Newport Road, Tayport, and Valentine, of HMP Perth, deny the charges and claim they acted in self defence.
The court heard how Ms Floyd’s night had started at the Queen’s Hotel for a ceilidh with her husband and friends before making their way to the taxi rank near Steeple Church, where she would go on to see “a lot of violence”.
Ms Floyd turned around after hearing a “loud bang” near the Nether Inn to see Valentine and Reid singing loudly and waving their arms in the air and a bin overturned.
She went on to say that Reid and Valentine, along with a female friend, skipped to the front of the taxi queue and tried to force their way into one as it pulled up.
Ms Floyd indicated that Reid then repeatedly punched the taxi window with a vape pen, which bounced out of his hand and “flew right past my head”.
She said: “The taxi driver stopped and got out, but was punched and fell back into his taxi and drove off.”
Ms Floyd said an “older couple” had tried to calm down the situation but were ultimately pushed to the ground. Ms Floyd rushed to help the woman, who remained on the ground for some time.
It was while helping the woman that she looked up and said she saw Reid punch Mr Fox.
She said: “When he landed on the ground it made a horrible noise.
“The other man (Valentine) then came up and punched the man on the side.”
Ms Floyd was challenged over why she didn’t originally tell police she saw the punch land when interviewed just hours later.
She said: “It was like a bad dream and I didn’t want to remember it.
When asked if she remembers seeing both punches clearly now, she said “yes”.
Also giving evidence yesterday was Connell Grieve, 24, one of the alleged assault victims.
The Selkirk man was in Dundee to celebrate the new year with a friend and his girlfriend. The trio were getting into the taxi that Reid, Valentine and the female companion tried to force themselves into.
Mr Grieve told the court how he was “brushed aside” by one of the men, but managed to make it into the taxi nonetheless.
From inside, he saw the taxi driver being assaulted, but the vehicle had driven away by the time Mr Fox became involved.
The trial before Lord Beckett continues.
