A MAN was struck over the head with a pool cue by a jealous boyfriend, a jury heard.

Joshua Merritt, of Bullrush Road, Blackbird Leys, denies carrying out the attack in Riley’s snooker club, in Between Towns Road, Cowley, on June 15 last year.

The 21-year-old stands accused of wounding with intent and an alternative charge of unlawful wounding against Lee Waldron.

Catherine Milsom, prosecuting at Oxford Crown Court, read out a statement by Mr Waldron.

She said he spoke to barmaid Lesley Clark and asked if she was serving, before hearing an “aggressive” voice behind him.

Miss Milsom, reading Mr Waldron’s statement, said: “I heard a male voice from behind me say ‘leave her alone’. I felt a hard blow to the back of my head and I also heard a cracking sound.

“I managed to stay on my feet and put my hand to the back of my head and felt blood.”

One of his friends, Robert Spiers, gave evidence identifying “Lesley’s boyfriend” as the attacker.

Miss Milsom said to Merritt: “You thought your girlfriend was being chatted up and you lost your rag, didn’t you?”

But the defendant, who has no previous convictions, denied being in the bar, insisting it was a case of mistaken identity. The trial continues.