Adam Cooper, 62, suffered fractures to his eye socket and nose in an incident at Ricco and Loren bar in Lichfield.

A man who was punched in an “unprovoked and senseless attack” in a bar that left his friend with fatal injuries has described feeling as though he had been hit with a sledgehammer, a murder trial has heard.

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Adam Cooper, 62, suffered fractures to his eye socket and nose in an incident at Ricco and Loren bar in Lichfield, Staffordshire, on May 24, in which his friend, Matthew O’Gara, 44, was punched in the neck, leaving him fatally injured.

Billy Allison, 36, is alleged to have delivered a “very, very hard” punch with the “stance and skill of an experienced fighter” to Mr O’Gara, on the dancefloor of the bar, before punching Mr Cooper, Stafford Crown Court heard.

Allison denies the murder of publican Mr O’Gara, who died in hospital on May 26, and section 18 grievous bodily harm with intent to Mr Cooper. He admits alternative charges of manslaughter and inflicting grievous bodily harm contrary to section 20.

Giving evidence on Friday, Mr Cooper, who had been at the bar with Mr O’Gara, their partners and some other friends, said he had noticed Allison on the dancefloor because he was a “big guy”, but he had never met him before.

“He was tall, well-built, kind of strong,” Mr Cooper said during questioning by prosecution counsel Timothy Hannam KC.

“I just noticed his Louis Vuitton bag, I bought my wife one, so I was looking.”

Mr Cooper said his own group had been in good spirits, with a “nice, friendly atmosphere” and he had noticed a woman who appeared to be with Allison.

He said: “I saw her dancing and thought she was enjoying herself.”

Asked by Mr Hannam if he had paid any further attention to Allison, Mr Cooper said: “Nothing really, I just looked around the room, just like anybody does.”

Mr Cooper then described feeling an “almighty blow” to his face that left him in shock.

He said: “First thing I knew, I felt this almighty blow to my face, I didn’t see it coming, I didn’t see anything that happened before that, I didn’t see anything at all.

“It was huge, massive, when that happened, I just walked straight out the back door.

“I didn’t know Matt had been hit, I didn’t know anything, I was just in complete shock.”

Asked what it had felt like, Mr Cooper said: “Like a sledgehammer, it was hard, very, very hard.”

He said he felt that Allison had done “two quick blows” to his face.

He said: “It was fast… it was that quick I wouldn’t know which was which.

“I didn’t know it was coming, I made no attempt to defend myself or stop or get out of the way, it just happened.”

Asked by Mr Hannam if he had done anything to “justify” being attacked, Mr Cooper said: “Absolutely not.”

Mr Cooper said he did not see what had happened to Mr O’Gara, who was punched before he was and was unconscious on the floor, and did not know he was hurt until he was outside and saw people rushing around trying to help him.

When paramedics arrived, Mr Cooper was taken to the Good Hope Hospital in Sutton Coldfield and then the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham.

He told the jury he had spent thousands of pounds on work to repair damage to dental implants as a result of the attack, but his fractures had healed well.

In his evidence, Mr Cooper described Mr O’Gara, whom he knew because he was a regular at the country pub he owned called The Plough on the outskirts of Lichfield, as “everyone’s friend”.

He said: “(He was) one of the friendliest guys you would ever meet.”

Mr Cooper said Mr O’Gara had been “jolly, happy” that evening.

The trial continues.