A man told a jury his brother threw a bucket of acid in his face while behaving "like a madman in a rage" during a family dispute.

Hastings Harris, 67, said that the attack at the hands of Colin Washington, 54, left his eyesight damaged.

Describing his brother as "a very nasty person," he said Washington harbours bad feeling over a house in Mount Hill, Pembroke, that their mother left him and his younger sister.

They are from a family of 11 siblings, and Mr. Harris lives in the property with his mentally-disabled brother Robert Harris, who lives on Government benefits.

"If my momma would have put what she had in his name it would have been fine," said Hastings of Washington.

On the night of June 7 last year, he returned to the house after a shopping trip to find Washington and Robert speaking on the porch. He claimed Washington was putting " a lot of damn nonsense" in Robert's head about money their mother left.

"I went to the fridge to put my items away and he rushed up to me all in my face. He says he wants to talk to me," he explained, describing Washington as behaving "like he wanted a fight".

When Washington refused repeated requests to leave the house, Hastings picked up a machete and swung it at him as he chased him off the property.

"I picked it up because I figured then he would leave. That's what I wanted and he left. It's not because I wanted to do any bodily harm because I'm not that type of person," he said.

Hastings said Washington left, but called the house phone a short time later and told him: "I'm going to get you."

Hastings hung up and began to get ready for bed. Later, he heard Washington outside banging on his bedroom blinds "like a madman in a rage".

He told the jury: "I shouted through the blind 'please leave, I don't want any trouble or I'll have to call the Police'. He said 'come outside, come outside'. I went to the front door, the screen door, and I stood there and I told him to leave. And the next thing I knew was hot stuff was all over me, all over my eyes."

Asked by prosecutor Takiyah Burgess how this felt, he replied: "It just started burning. I tried to make my way to the bathroom to wash the stuff out of my eyes. I assume it was some type of acid liquid because he's a tiler and you use sorts of acid liquid to clean the tiles off."

Ms Burgess told the jury during her opening speech that the substance was muriatic acid. Hastings told the jury he believed both his brothers left in Washington's van. He called a friend who took him to the hospital, where he remained for two-and-a-half weeks.

Asked by Ms Burgess whether he could identify Mr. Washington in the dock, Hastings replied that he could not. "I've got really bad vision, everything is fuzzy. It's like that even with glasses. I don't see him."

He told the jury he had problems with cataracts in his eyes before, but the real problems have been caused by the acid and he will have to go overseas for further treatment.

Cross-examining Hastings, defence lawyer Richard Horseman suggested that Washington went to the house that night to take care of Robert who was not being properly looked after. Hastings denied that, along with a further suggestion that he was taking Robert's money to spend on the house.

"It's not about the house. Nobody is taking advantage of Robert," he said.

Mr. Horseman went on to allege that he was threatening Robert when Washington came back to the house for the second time.

"You came to the door armed with a machete and you threatened to chop him up again, didn't you?" claimed Mr. Horseman.

"No, that's rubbish, replied Hastings.

Washington, of Grace Lane, Pembroke, denies wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm by throwing a corrosive fluid.

The case continues.