A salesman saw red and mowed down his wife's ex-lover as he walked down a street, a jury heard.

Timothy Porter is accused of mounting the pavement and running over Ian Cowpland in Battle High Street in August last year, following a legal dispute over the paternity of Porter's wife's child.

But Porter told police it was an accident.

He said he had suffered sudden stomach pains and blacked out.

He said it was simply a coincidence that the pedestrian he hit was Mr Cowpland.

Mr Cowpland, who had been out shopping, was trapped between Porter's car and a shop doorway and suffered a broken kneecap and cuts to his head and arm.

Porter, 39, formerly of Catsfield Road, Crowhurst, has denied causing grievous bodily harm with intent at Lewes Crown Court.

Christine Laing, prosecuting, said at first it appeared to have been an unfortunate accident but Mr Cowpland told passers-by trying to help him that the car had been driven deliberately at him and asked them to describe the driver.

When police asked Porter if he knew the injured man he replied: "Yes. He had an affair with my wife.

"He has been the pain of my life. A pain in the a*** for me.

"We have been fighting through the courts."

Ms Laing said: "When Porter saw Mr Cowpland he simply saw red and deliberately drove at him intending to cause him serious injury."

The court heard Porter's wife, Melanie, had an affair with Mr Cowpland from May 2000 until June 2001.

After the relationship ended she gave birth to a baby girl, Georgina, and there has been acrimony since over the paternity of the child.

Mr Cowpland told the jury how he watched in horror as the Volvo driven by Porter, swerved towards him.

He said he tried to run out of the way but the vehicle again swerved towards him.

The trial continues.