(JESSICA WALLACE / iNFOnews.ca)

KAMLOOPS - A man who suffered permanent injuries in an assault with a pool cue in a Kamloops nightclub last year doesn't want the accused to be deported back to Saudi Arabia if convicted.

First, he wants him to spend time in a Canadian jail — then he wants him deported.

"Would it be enough for you?" he asked.

Abdulaziz Alhedaib, a Saudi Arabian TRU international student, spent five months in hospital after celebration of his 28th birthday turned violent. Alhedaib was poked directly in the eye with the cue, hard enough to dislodge the eye-ball from its socket and cause brain damage.

Another Saudi Arabian TRU international student, 26-year-old Yousef Almotairai, is charged with aggravated assault and assault with a weapon for allegedly jabbing Alhedaib in the eye with a pool cue around 1 a.m., Nov. 4, 2012 at Cactus Jacks nightclub. 

According to Alhedaib's testimony on Wednesday, the two were school acquaintances and shared mutual friends.

Alhedaib limped out of the courtroom yesterday with help from his cane, his arm in a sling — the aftermath of paralysis to one side of his body evident. He sat in the lobby alone while court broke for lunch. He said he was waiting for a friend.

His sister came from Saudi Arabia after the incident, however she's since gone home.

"There are always people around me," he says of his support in the city.

He has been tight-lipped with the media, telling InfoTel News he's been 'harassed' since his days in a hospital bed. He's not sure why people are interested in his case while he tries to move past it all and enjoy his summer in Kamloops.

He's been taking time off to recover since getting out of hospital in April, with mostly 'physical' injuries following the incident last November.

While he's uncertain whether he will ever fully recover, he is sure of a couple things: he wants to graduate from TRU and stay in Kamloops.

He completed the English Second Language program at TRU before working towards a business degree in finance. He completed his second year of business, however he stopped going to school.

This fall, it will be almost a year since the incident, however Alhedaib doesn't know whether he'll be back in the classroom.

"I'm still thinking about it," he said.

Before he gets there, he wants the man he believes 'tried to kill' him brought to justice.

The defence is expected to try and show Almotairi's attack was reflexive and lacking the mens rea, or guilty mind, needed for a conviction. However, Alhedaib believes he would have received a black eye via a punch if that were true and not the alleged pool cue in the eye.

"If it's just a reaction, you would hit me back with your arm," he said.

The trial is expected to conclude next week.

To contact a reporter for this story, email: jwallace@infotelnews.ca, call: (250) 319-7494 or tweet: @jess__wallace.

News from © iNFOnews, 2013