A MAN who was blinded in one eye by a vicious ammonia attack was offered £5,000 to drop the charges, a court heard.

Michael Dunn was also told he would be shot if he gave evidence against his attacker, a court heard.

Last month a jury found 27-year-old Lewis Chorlton guilty of intentionally causing grievous bodily harm to Mr Dunn.

Chorlton had squirted ammonia into his victim's face in Bolton town centre, blinding him in one eye, and he is expected to receive a lengthy prison sentence next week.

In a separate hearing Bolton Crown Court heard how, following Chorlton's arrest, Lance Aldred was recruited to try and persuade Mr Dunn to drop his complaint.

Andrew Smith, prosecuting, said that in a series of increasingly desperate moves Aldred, who had been at the scene of the assault on July 5 last year, contacted his friend on the phone to warn him that Chorlton and his associates were "bad people".

In one call on August 2, Aldred handed over the phone to another man who offered Mr Dunn £5,000 not to go to court, adding the threat that he "would get shot" if he went through with the trial.

Mr Dunn was so frightened by the threats that he was placed in a witness protection programme and gave his evidence at Chorlton's trial via a live video link.

Mr Smith added that Aldred's involvement in attempting to halt Chorlton's trial went even further, with him making false allegations to police himself.

On August 6 last year he went to Bolton Police Station and claimed he had been assaulted the night before by the same man who had attacked his friend Mr Dunn.

He hoped the story would clear Chorlton, who had already been arrested and remanded in custody for Mr Dunn's assault a month earlier.

But detectives were sceptical about his claims and Aldred's girlfriend told them he had been threatened by others.

Aldred kept to his story until the day Chorlton's trial was due to start, when he finally admitted perverting the course of justice.

The court accepted that Aldred, aged 27, of St Bees Road, Tonge Moor, had been pressured into committing the crime by others.

And Peter Cunliffe, defending, stressing that he has already spent several months in prison, appealed for him not to be jailed further.

But Judge Smith said Aldred, had been determined to try and stop the trial.

"Fortunately that level of persistence did not succeed in derailing the course of justice," he said.

He added that Mr Dunn, in addition to his injuries, had been seriously affected by Aldred's actions.

"It's clear that because of the threats made against him, he and his girlfriend had to leave the area and he lost his employment," said Judge Smith.