POLICE now believe that an incident in which a boy was temporarily blinded may be the result of an accident.

Police thought Adam Watson, 15, lost the sight in his right eye after he was struck by a sharp object in an apparently motiveless attack as he walked home from his cousin's party on Boxing Day in Marske, east Cleveland.

But they have now said the incident, which they believed took place between 11.30am and midnight at the junction of Longbeck Road and Redcar Road, was the result of an accident.

A spokesperson from Cleveland Police said: "Following an appeal, a witness has now come forward with evidence which suggests this may have been the result of a tragic accident, and that no third party was involved."

The sharp object displaced and scratched Adam's eyeball, detached the retina and tore his eyelid, which needed stitches.

He remembers nothing about the incident.

Three women and a man in their late teens to early twenties found him in the street, unconscious and bleeding heavily.

Adam's mother, Anne, said: "I would be very relieved to know it was an accident and I'm sure the people of Marske would breathe a sigh of relief that there isn't a maniac wandering around punching people.

"But I find it hard to believe, because Adam told the ambulance man he had been punched.

"The hospital told me he couldn't have got the injury by falling because it only affected the inside of his eye, and I've been to the place where Adam was found and it's just a patch of grass.

"It's all very confusing."