A MAN who left his victim partially blinded after throwing an unknown liquid at him says he had no idea the substance would cause such damage, a court has heard.

Chelmsford Crown Court heard Jack Psaras, 32, attacked Nicholas Brown out of nowhere.

The pair’s friends had been playing pool in the Bath House pub, in Walton before the attack.

During the opening of the prosecution case yesterday, the court was shown CCTV footage of Psaras lunging towards Mr Brown with the bottle from close range outside the pub.

He then left the area with friends at just after 10.50pm on January 20 this year.

The footage also showed both men entering and leaving the pub with friends and playing pool.

Andrew Newton, defending, said members of both groups – particularly Mr Brown’s friend of ten years and a stocky mixed-race male from Psaras’s party - were socialising, sharing hugs and partaking in general “horseplay”.

He said Mr Brown never felt any animosity between him and Psaras.

He described the mood as “fun” and moments before the attack, Mr Brown had asked where the group were headed next.

Speaking from behind a screen, Mr Brown said: “I just remember getting something thrown in my face and it began to burn. I couldn’t really see after that.

“I couldn’t tell you who threw it. It was all a blur. I remember feeling pain and trying to grab a drink and wash my face.

“After pouring it in my eye, I went to the pub’s toilets inside. I couldn’t see anything.”

Mr Brown has undergone a membrane transplant to help repair the cornea in his right eye.

He has been left with blurred vision and when asked to cover his uninjured eye, he could only make out the shape of the judge who was sitting about a metre away from him.

He said: “It’s still too blurred to see much.

“I can see shapes but the doctors said after a year I can maybe have more surgery in London.”

The labourer told the jury, who were sworn in yesterday, he is too nervous to drive despite being able to legally.

Juliet Donovan, prosecuting, said Psaras, of Warde Chase, Walton, gave no comment to police on February 6, when asked whether he knew what was in the container.

He also refused to answer questions on how intoxicated he was.

Mr Brown indicated in court he was personally about a seven out of ten in terms of being drink after having been to the Walton Tavern, also on the seafront, beforehand.

The attack has left the 18-year-old victim partially blinded in one eye.

Psaras has admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm but denies grievous bodily harm with intent, claiming he did not know what was in the bottle he used.

The trial continues.