Paramedic Alannah North told the Supreme Court on Tuesday that, when she and her colleagues arrived at the Newcastle waterfront on the evening of January 14, 2018, Mr Hadden scored three on the Glasgow Coma Scale.

The court heard that the scale is the internationally accepted measure to test the level of a person's consciousness, with a medical assessor allocating points for across three categories - three is the lowest possible score.

Ms North told the court Mr Hadden's jaw was locked closed, he was bleeding from the mouth, he was breathing but had "inadequate ventilation" and he had a heart rate of 50 beats per minute.

"Our main goal in this situation was to get him to further healthcare in a fully diagnostic trauma hospital," she said.

It came on the second day that Mr Holmes, 45, was standing trial for alleged murder over Mr Hadden's death.

Mr Hadden died in hospital five-and-a-half months after he was assaulted by Mr Holmes following an afternoon of drinking beer together at the Queens Wharf Hotel.

The court was played CCTV footage from the hotel, captured about 30 minutes before the assault that rendered Mr Hadden unconscious.

The footage showed the pair sitting together outside the pub, before they became involved in a scuffle and were separated by hotel staff and security.

The court heard evidence from Jacob Atkinson, who was manager of the hotel at the time.

He told the court he was one of the first people to respond and grabbed Mr Holmes to pull him from on top of Mr Hadden.

Mr Atkinson and a security guard took Mr Holmes out of the venue and tried to encourage him to get a taxi away from the area while others were keeping Mr Hadden at the hotel, with a view to sending him off in the other direction.

The trial continues on Wednesday.

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