A man collapsed onto the ground after he was allegedly stabbed during a violent confrontation between two groups of youths, a court has heard.

Steeplejack Dale Bennett collapsed after he was apparently knifed during a “frantic” scuffle in Gorebridge, Midlothian, in February 2011, the High Court in Edinburgh heard.

Gavin McInnes, 21, told the court on Wednesday he saw his old school friend standing unsteadily on his feet before falling onto the road.

As Dale Bennett lay injured in the village's Newbyres Crescent, Mr McInnes said the 17-year-old managed to lift his T-shirt to on lookers who were standing nearby.

Mr McInnes said he could see Mr Bennett stomach which was covered in blood. He told the court: "I heard somebody shouting 'he's been stabbed’.”

Mr McInnes, from Mayfield, Midlothian, was giving evidence on the third day of the trial of Brian McHale, 21, who is accused of murdering Mr Bennett on February 12 last year.

McHale is said to have seized Mr Bennett fan by the body before striking him with a knife.

On the first day of the trial, Mr McHale's legal team tried in front of the jury to offer a plea to prosecutors that their client was guilty of culpable homicide.

However, advocate depute Gary Allan QC refused to accept the plea to the lesser charge leaving McHale to stand trial on the murder allegation.

McHale has also pleaded not guilty to a charge of assaulting Aaron Pearson, 21, of Mayfield, Midlothian, on February 6, 2011 to his injury at Newbyres Crescent.

Mr McInnes said he had spent the evening before Dale was attacked drinking with friends at the Mayfield Inn pub. He had consumed three quarters of a bottle of vodka before going to the pub where he consumed more drinks.

At closing time, he and his friends decided to get a taxi to a party they thought was being held at a house in Newbyres Crescent. Mr Bennett was with the crowd who decided to go to Gorebridge.

But once the friends arrived at their destination, they came into contact with another group of young men. Mr McInnes, who works for a loft insulation business, said the other youths were carrying weapons.

He told Mr Allan that even although he was drunk, he could remember throwing a glass bottle at the other group. He said some of his friends also took off their trouser belts and wrapped them around their hands.

Telling the advocate depute that he got involved in a "few scuffles", Mr McInnes added: "It was frantic. People were roaming about.

"People were trying to hit me. I was trying to hit them back. A few people took their belts off. I never saw any of them being used as a weapon. I just saw them being wrapped around their hands."

Mr McInnes told Mr Allan that at some point during the confrontation, he saw Mr Bennett standing unsteadily on his feet before losing his footing and falling onto the ground.

Mr McInnes said: "I was right beside him. He lifted his t-shirt. All you could see was blood over his stomach. You couldn't see any wound. I heard somebody shouting 'he's been stabbed’."

The jury also heard from Jamie Murray, 21, another one of the deceased man's friends.

Mr Murray, from Mayfield, Midlothian, told the court that when he and his friends arrived in Gorebridge, he could see a man in the other group carrying a spade. He also said he saw another man carrying a stick.

Mr Murray added: "It was like half a broom or a stick. I couldn't say 100% what it was. I thought they were going to attack us."

On the first day of the trial on Monday, the court heard from Aaron Pearson, 21, who claimed he was beaten up by McHale six days before the alleged murder.

Mr Murray denied a suggestion from Mr Allan that he and his friends went to Newbyres Crescent to get their revenge on McHale for the alleged assault on Aaron Pearson.

But under cross examination from defence advocate Mark Stewart QC, Mr Murray admitted making an offensive phone call to McHale in the days leading up to the alleged murder. But he denied telling McHale he was going to be beaten up.

He said: "I said he was a beast and a sex offender but I didn't say he was getting a doing. I phoned him once. I shouldn't have done it. It was the height of stupidity."

The trial before Lady Clark of Calton continues.