Watch more of our videos on Shots!
and live on Freeview channel 276

A Scots wrestler - known as The Juggernaut - used his trademark power slam move to fight off a drunk thug in a violent street attack, a court was told.

David Middlemiss claimed he was assaulted with a bottle and punched and kicked while on the ground in a row over late night noise outside his home last year. The professional wrestler told a trial at Edinburgh Sheriff Court he had been challenged to a fight by Tyler Mackenzie after he had asked him to stop making noise. He told the court Mackenzie and co-accused Aiden McFarlane, both 20, refused to calm down and began throwing rubbish bags through his open flat window.

Mr Middlemiss, a Scottish Wrestling Champion silver medalist, said he was forced to go downstairs to confront the pair but ended up in a fight where he claimed he was attacked with a bottle. He told the court he managed to halt the violent confrontation by grabbing Mackenzie around the waist, running with him across a road and slamming him into a wheelie bin. Mr Middlemiss said he believed his “life was in danger” and following his Running Powerslam move the pair ran off and were soon picked up by police attempting to flee in a taxi.

Mackenzie, from Edinburgh, and McFarlane, from Musselburgh, East Lothian, both denied the allegations and stood trial at the capital court over two days. But after the trial heard evidence from four witnesses the Crown said on Monday it was accepting pleas from both accused to amended charges.

McFarlane was acquitted of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner by challenging Mr Middlemiss to fight with him and he walked free from the dock. Mackenzie pleaded guilty to an amended charge of challenging the wrestler to fight with him and to throwing refuse bags at Grove Street, Edinburgh, on July 11 last year.

The apprentice fire prevention engineer had not guilty pleas to charges of assaulting Mr Middlemiss with a bottle and to possessing the bottle during the incident accepted by the Crown.

Sheriff Derek O’Carroll fined Mackenzie a total of £420 and ordered him to pay Mr Middlemiss £400 in compensation. Previously Mr Middlemiss told the trial he was at home when he heard a commotion outside in the street at around 3am on July 11 last year.

Tyler Mackenzie (right) and co-accused Aiden McFarlane

The 30-year-old personal trainer said he opened his window to ask the two men to stop making the noise but was met with a barrage of abuse and challenged to fight. He said he ignored the threats but was forced to go down and confront the men when he said bin bags full of rubbish were launched through his window. Mr Middlemass, who said he was in training to make the the Commonwealth Games wrestling team at the time, told the court he was attacked with a bottle during the incident. He also gave evidence that after being knocked to the ground he was punched and kicked to the head several times.

The wrestler told the court he was forced to use his ring skills on Mackenzie to defend himself. He said: “I knew if I didn’t operate carefully I could have been killed. He walked towards me and I crouched low and picked him up. I had my arms around his waist and picked him up - he wasn’t very heavy. I had one thing to do and that was to subdue him. I had been bottled and punched and kicked in the head. I was in fear of my life.

“My intention was to run his back into the wheelie bin as hard as I could so I could subdue him long enough for me to get away. It was the only option I could see.”

Edinburgh crime: Wrestler The Juggernaut tells court he was attacked with bottle after noise complaint