Tug of war over slab of warm beer

Like a polite guest, Joel Goode brought a carton of beer to the birthday party of his friend Zachery Dwyer in north Queensland.

But his beers were not chilled, so he drank Dwyer's all day, and when he got up to leave, taking his unopened slab of 30 VBs with him, Dwyer was furious - and allegedly slashed Goode's face with a broken bottle.

Cairns District Court heard that the pair engaged in a "tug of war" over the warm VBs and a fight then broke out, during which Goode's face was injured.

Goode's brother Lucas called an ambulance, and another party guest then phoned emergency services again, telling the call centre: "He's conscious, he's breathing [but] the whole left side of his face near his ear has actually been ripped off."

Dwyer, 29, is accused of unlawfully wounding his friend during the party at his Cairns home in February 2008.

Lucas Goode initially thought his brother had been stabbed in the chest after Dwyer allegedly thrust a bottle at him during a scuffle in the driveway.

Lucas Goode told the court he saw the two men fighting over the carton. "Joel had hold of it and Zac said, 'Oi, what are you doing?' and grabbed hold of it," he said.

The pair then ended up on the ground, with Dwyer on top. Under cross-examination, Goode rejected a suggestion that his brother's face had been cut by broken glass lying on the ground.