A young girl lost an eye following a shooting accident in woods near Hersden.

The man accused of causing the injury, Tristam Keen, has gone on trial at Canterbury Crown Court where he denies unlawfully and maliciously wounding the girl in July, last year.

Keen, 23, of Popes Lane, Sturry, had taken a .22 air rifle to shoot in the woods in the early evening.

With him was an eight-year-old boy and they took it in turns to fire at the trees.

The victim, now 11, was going to the woods with her sister and their aunt sent Keen a text warning him the girls were on their way.

Deborah Charles, prosecuting, said the girls were shouting “don’t shoot” and the victim called out she could see the defendant.

She then saw him come from behind a tree and the gun pointing at her. The boy was behind him was holding the back of the gun.

“The Crown say Keen was probably and recklessly messing about pretending to aim at the victim but it went badly wrong and he shot her in the eye. She screamed, swore and began crying,” said Miss Charles.

Realising she was hurt, Keen carried her home. The victim was taken by ambulance to hospital.

She lost her left eye but the pellet is still in her head, it being deemed too dangerous to remove it, said Miss Charles.

Keen asked a friend to take the gun away but it was later recovered by police.

Arrested that night he said he and the boy had been shooting at the trees and the boy had fired the gun just before they heard the victim screaming. The next day Keen denied firing the shot that caused the injury.

Asked if he knew the girls were there, he said he could hear them screaming and shouting and he’d never fired the gun before that day.

In a second interview he said he’d given the boy instructions and handed him the loaded and cocked gun. He told him to hold the butt against his shoulder and look down the sight and never to aim at anybody.

The trial continues.