Thomas Etherton, who broke another’s eye socket with a single punch, said he felt intimidated

A MAN who broke another’s eye socket with a single punch said he was justified because he felt intimidated and “uneasy.”

Thomas Etherton had arranged a rendezvous at the Shell garage on the A4 Bath Road at Padworth with Trevor Ball, who had agreed to return the phone he had found in Newbury.

But instead of handing over a promised £40 reward, Mr Etherton felled Mr Ball with a single punch, Reading Crown Court has heard.

Mr Ball has already told jurors how the blow shattered his eye socket resulting in hospital treatment.

Describing the punch, Mr Ball said: “It was just so unexpected – I thought my eye had come out.

“There was so much blood and so much pain.

“I’ve never been through anything like that before.”

Thirty-one-year-old Mr Etherton, who was living in Sandleford Lane, Greenham, denies unlawfully and maliciously causing grievous bodily harm on September 29, 2019, claiming he acted in self defence.

On Friday, January 12, Judge Sarah Campbell reminded jurors how Mr Etherton, giving evidence from the witness box, had said he had refused to hand over the promised £40 because the phone was smashed in pieces.

Mr Etherton denied saying “What’s my f****** phone doing all the way up here – I should give you two a slap.”

He claimed that, when he declined to hand over the cash, Mr Ball’s girlfriend, Michelle Hoile, grabbed his arm and refused to let him leave.

Mr Etherton added: “A vein was pulsing in her neck and there was spit around her mouth.

“She said I couldn’t leave until I gave her the money.

“He (Mr Ball) was pulling something from his pocket...I felt uneasy so I punched him and ran out of there.

“I felt trapped...it felt like a dangerous situation.”

Mr Etherton told jurors he feared Mr Ball was reaching for a knife, rather than a phone SIM card – although he conceded this was not something he had mentioned in a subsequent statement to police.

An independent witness has told jurors that Mr Ball showed no signs of aggression before being “blindsided” by the blow, which sounded “like a bouncy castle exploding.”

However Jessica Goldring, defending, said that evidence contained inconsistencies.

Shaan Sethi, summing up for the prosecution, said Mr Etherton was a “violent man with a history of attacking strangers.”

He said one previous conviction for assault involved Mr Etherton attacking a member of staff at a racecourse, calling him a “Polish b******” before punching him out of the blue.

The jury has now retired to consider a verdict.

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