A MAN who blinded a student in one eye by striking him with a pool cue has denied intending to cause him serious injury.

Adam Winter, of Lime Walk, Headington, has already admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm but denies one count of GBH with intent.

Oxford Crown Court heard after the jury were sworn in at the start of his trial yesterday how the 25-year old had been at the Ruskin College common room in the early hours of June 18 2016.

Prosecutor Gavin Pottinger told the jury of eight women and four men that the victim, law student Zafran Sultan, had also visited the room to work on an assignment when he was struck ‘out of the blue’ by Winter.

He said: “The blow was a very sharp, severe blow to the head.

“What happened, the crown say, is he was obviously hit in the heard with this cue with such force that not only it broke the cue but caused serious injuries which squashed the eyeball and caused the damage you have heard about.”

Taking to the witness box Mr Sultan, who has lost the use of his left eye as a result of the attack, said: “I thought I was going to die.

“I fell and I could not get up, I was trying to get up but my body would not move.

“I was hit really hard. I didn’t know what had happened, I just fell and I was thinking 'what is going on?”

CCTV footage played to the court showing the entrance to the college appeared to show Mr Sultan struggling to get to the door seconds after the incident, holding his head in his hands.

He is seen to stumble outside while others come to his aid before an ambulance is called and he is taken to hospital for his injury.

During cross-examination of Mr Sultan, Emma Scott, defending, claimed that he had been drunk that night and had called the defendant a racist in the run-up to the incident.

Mr Sultan denied this and told jurors he drank very little alcohol that night.

Winter denies the charge and the trial continues.