A MAN accused of attacking two frail pensioners on a cruise ship has said he feels "deeply ashamed" about the incident.

Graeme Finlay, 53, from Glasgow, denies unlawfully wounding Ron Phillips, 70, who walks with a crutch and was carrying two mugs of cocoa back to his cabin for him and his 68-year-old wife June.

He also denies causing grievous bodily harm to Mrs Phillips, as they were cruising off Lanzarote in January last year.

Finlay, who had drunk two pints of lager, three glasses of red wine and around five vodka and Cokes that evening, told Teesside Crown Court he was on the ship alone.

He said that this often led him to feeling awkward at dinner-time as he would be placed on tables with couples.

After being seated at a particular table, he said the other guests largely ignored him, despite him saying good evening.

"The waiter took me to a table and as I sat down I said good evening to the other guests. I'm quite a shy person and it's not easy for me to meet strangers," he said.

"One lady said good evening and the other three said nothing to me. I thought it was a bit awkward."

The court heard he then asked to move tables and continued his evening at a cabaret event and the casino before heading back to his room.

Meeting Mr Phillips in the lift, he realised he had been one of the people on the table and decided he would say something.

"I said excuse me I don't want you to take it the wrong way - I would never have said this without the alcohol - I felt really awkward at the table and it would have been nice if you had said good evening when I said good evening," he said.

"That was all and he just said f*** off at that point and I could not believe he was saying that. It was a strange response from him and I asked why are you saying that?"

The pair continued to argue as they got out of the lift, with Mr Phillips allegedly calling Finlay a "rude w*****".

Finlay said they eventually got to the end of the corridor where he was struck and started to swing his arms in self-defence.

He said by this point Mrs Phillips had appeared out of their room, but he denied injuring her in any way.

When asked by Peter Kilgour, defending, how he felt about the incident, he said: "I feel deeply ashamed I have been involved with such a thing. I was shocked to hear about their injuries.

"I've found it hard to live with this and the shame of it. To be involved with such a thing, it's been really terrible. I have never been involved with this sort of thing. I feel sorry for them and myself.

"The alcohol clouded my judgment. I would never have done this if I was sober, I would have run away. I was worried he would get my eye, it was just to protect myself. I did not mean to cause any harm."

During the altercation, he said he suffered a cut to his arm and forehead which he had seen to in hospital the next day.

The court heard yesterday that Mr Phillips suffered a gash to the forehead when he was repeatedly punched and knocked out, and his wife was later found to have fractured two vertebrae after being shoved against a wall, causing her to lose consciousness.