A TEENAGER threatened to blind a friend with “acid” if he did not pay off an outstanding debt, a court was told.

But, after the debtor fled town, Liam Daglish repeated the threat when he crossed paths with his cousin, before squirting liquid from one of three bottles he was carrying in his direction.

The startled victim turned to avoid the liquid, most of which hit his clothing, but at least one “splash” hit his eye.

Durham Crown Court heard that Daglish said he would “blind” him and appeared to be about to take the top off a second bottle, so, the other man lunged at him to hold him in a bear-hug.

Chris Baker, prosecuting, said, realising he was not getting the “upper hand”, Daglish pulled away and repeated his threat to “blind him”, adding: “Tell your cousin to repay his debts”.

Although uninjured, the potential victim said he feared he could have been blinded.

He picked up two bottles discarded by Daglish and phoned police to report what had taken place, in broad daylight, in Craddock Street, Spennymoor, at 9.15am on August 19 last year.

A mobile patrol officer caught up with Daglish who was carrying one plastic bottle, apparently under the influence of drugs.

Mr Baker said the officer took hold of the defendant's arm and told him to let go of the bottle, but the defendant threatened to head-butt him and he was only detained in the patrol vehicle after a struggle.

He said two of the recovered bottles contained relatively low concentrations of ammonia, in liquid.

“It’s an irritant, caustic and can cause damage to the skin, eyes and other soft tissue.”

The court heard the original loan made by Daglish was of £100 to help the ‘friend’ move home, several weeks earlier.

Richard Herrmann, for Daglish, said he was 19 at the time, and has spent several months in an adult prison on remand since the offence, his first taste of custody, which has proved, “a shock to the system.”

Mr Herrmann said no-one was actually injured by the actions of Daglish, who has since moved on from the previous circles in which he mixed in Spennymoor.

The defendant, now 20, and of The Grove, in Coxhoe, near Durham, admitted administering a poisonous or noxious substance, plus two counts of common assault and one of resisting a police officer, all of which the court heard put him in breach of a previous suspended sentence.

Jailing him for two-and-a-half years, Judge Simon Hickey said anyone taking ammonia onto the street, threatening to use it in a public setting, should expect to receive a custodial sentence.