During the trial, Mr Corti described how he had been woken during the night by noise from next door for several months before the incident.
Enlarge Gregory McCalium had become involved in a long-running dispute with Mr Corti about noise
He told the court: 'They would slam the doors, then they would start partying. You could hear shouting, screaming and music.'
Mr Corti said he called police when he found McCalium banging on the front door of his house at about 6.30am.
Two hours later, he said, he came downstairs and saw bar worker McCalium in his hallway.
Mr Corti said: 'The accused produced a knife. It was no ordinary knife, it was more like a six-bladed knuckle duster.
'He made a slashing movement at me. I stepped back. He missed me, fortunately.'
Mr Corti said that while McCalium was off balance, he grabbed both of his wrists and managed to pin his arms against the wall.
He added he asked McCalium to drop the knife but he wouldn’t.
Mr Corti said: 'I shouted to my wife to ring the police.
'I was absolutely petrified.
'As I saw it, it was a matter of do or die so I let his wrists go. Fortunately the element of surprise was with me, so I adjusted my position and hit him with my right hand. It was just below the eye.
'I did not knock him out, but he was stunned. I heard the knife drop. We grappled. I was trying to drag him out of the back door. We both fell to the floor. I had to subdue him by punching him, which I did not take a great deal of pleasure in.”
The jury heard he then lay on top of McCalium until the police arrived.
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