Boy, 9, nearly blinded by exploding joke pen in birthday party prank

A boy of nine was nearly blinded after opening an exploding joke pen.

Daniel Snelling was left screaming in pain when two other children handed the novelty item to him as a prank at a birthday party.

Debris from an explosive pellet hit the schoolboy in the eye when he pulled off the cap, turning one of his irises black.

Doctors fought to save his eyesight by neutralising the alkaline mixture of gunpowder and grit contained in the cap - described as being more dangerous than acid - and removing the particles with tweezers.

Daniel spent two weeks off school recovering, needed regular check-ups and still needs 28 eye drops every day.

The shop that sold the pen and its suppliers have been fined almost £8,000 in total after admitting supplying unsafe toys, including exploding packs of gum and lighters.

Describing the incident, which happened in July last year, Daniel, of Southend, Essex, said: 'I opened it and I was screaming with my hands over my eyes. It was burning.

'My dad took me to the men's loos to wash it. One of the boys came in and kept saying sorry.

'We drove to hospital and when I looked at mummy and daddy all I could see was a bright yellow light.'

His mother Angela, 37, who works in a toiletries shop, said: 'We were dropping my daughter off at a birthday party and two older boys gave him the pen.

'I was standing right next to him at the time. One of the boys said "This is our pen - we can't get the lid off".

The exploding pen bought from a joke shop in Southend which injured Daniel

'I thought the worst it would do is squirt water. It went off with such an almighty bang and a flash. He started screaming that it was burning his eyes.

'We took him to casualty and on the way to hospital I eventually managed to get him to move his hands away from his eyes. He has pale green eyes, just like his dad, and the iris in one of them had turned black.'

She added: 'I find it astonishing that such things are aimed at children.

'The gunpowder was mixed with grit because it needed something to spark against. The mix was alkaline and doctors said that was worse for eyes than acid.

'They said Daniel had a blast injury as if he had been in a war and a hand grenade had gone off.

'It burst his blood vessels. He was a very lucky boy not to have lost his sight.'

Mother-of-two Mrs Snelling, who is married to Paul, 40, a postman, added the bang had been so loud she had even seen her GP to make sure her hearing hadn't been affected.

Daniel's iris returned to its normal colour after six weeks but he needed regular check-ups with a specialist for four months.

He must have yearly eye tests to monitor the health of his eyes and vision and to check for glaucoma - a possible side-effect of blast injuries.

The black joke pen was made in Taiwan and the packaging was marked with CE - the European safety mark.

Supplier Funnyman Products Ltd, of Ilford, Essex, was fined a total of £5,264.70 for supplying unsafe toys at Southend Magistrates Court on July 28.

A spokesman refused to comment yesterday.

The Southend shop that sold the pen, Gaiety Bazaar, was fined £2,700 after pleading guilty at an earlier hearing.

The case was brought by Southend Borough Council.

Ian Robertson, the councillor responsible for public protection, said: 'This really is a horrible case of a child being injured by a seemingly harmless toy.

'I cannot emphasise enough how careful shop owners must be when it come to ensuring they know and trust their suppliers, especially when it comes to children's toys.'