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A member of the GB Olympic judo team has admitted biting a man's ear off in a street fight.
X, 23, claimed he was acting in self-defence when he gnawed 22-year-old Y's ear.
He said the fight started after Mr Y made a derogatory comment about his "cauliflower ears" then attacked him.
He denied that he had shouted abuse at Mr Y's group because they were dressed up as Jesus and his disciples for Hallowe'en.
But he admitted to a jury at Livingston Sheriff Court yesterday that he later lied to police about his involvement in the incident and had "exaggerated" how drunk he was at the time.
X, now a contender for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, claimed he went on the booze binge after being unable to compete in 2012 because of an ankle injury.
Giving evidence, X claimed that his alleged victim and eight friends of Mr Y had attacked him outside the Twig nightclub in Bathgate in October 2012.
He claimed his co-accused Z had pulled people off him and rescued him. X, from Harthill, West Lothian, denies repeatedly biting Mr Y on the body to his injury in Cochrane Street, Bathgate.
He also denies repeatedly punching and kicking Mr Y on the head and body to his severe injury and permanent disfigurement.
His co-accused Z, 21, of Blackridge, West Lothian, also denied serious assault but changed his plea to guilty to a reduced charge of breach of the peace after X gave evidence.
The trial, before Sheriff Douglas Kinloch, continues.
X, 23, claimed he was acting in self-defence when he gnawed 22-year-old Y's ear.
He said the fight started after Mr Y made a derogatory comment about his "cauliflower ears" then attacked him.
He denied that he had shouted abuse at Mr Y's group because they were dressed up as Jesus and his disciples for Hallowe'en.
But he admitted to a jury at Livingston Sheriff Court yesterday that he later lied to police about his involvement in the incident and had "exaggerated" how drunk he was at the time.
X, now a contender for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, claimed he went on the booze binge after being unable to compete in 2012 because of an ankle injury.
Giving evidence, X claimed that his alleged victim and eight friends of Mr Y had attacked him outside the Twig nightclub in Bathgate in October 2012.
He claimed his co-accused Z had pulled people off him and rescued him. X, from Harthill, West Lothian, denies repeatedly biting Mr Y on the body to his injury in Cochrane Street, Bathgate.
He also denies repeatedly punching and kicking Mr Y on the head and body to his severe injury and permanent disfigurement.
His co-accused Z, 21, of Blackridge, West Lothian, also denied serious assault but changed his plea to guilty to a reduced charge of breach of the peace after X gave evidence.
The trial, before Sheriff Douglas Kinloch, continues.
