A LAW student punched a man and left him for dead lying in a road with severe brain injuries, a court heard.

Ryan Cooper, 21, is charged with the manslaughter of Gary Stacey, a charge he denies.

Winchester Crown Court heard how the incident unfolded in Newport on February 14 last year.

Cooper who is a third-year law student at Southampton University is alleged to have assaulted to have assaulted Mr Stacey, 49, from Carisbrooke in the street in the early hours after a night out with friends.

Cooper, from Newport, on the Isle of Wight, was walking down the street with three friends, when Mr Stacey, who was eating a takeaway at the time and Cooper’s friend Alex Wright got into conversation.

The court heard that Cooper threw two punches at Mr Stacey, which he claims were in self defence, and then left the scene with Mr Stacey lying motionless in the road.

Outlining the case prosecutor Andy Houston said that Mr Stacey posed no threat to Cooper.

Mr Houston said: “Gary Stacey was a 49-year-old when he went out in Newport town centre.

“It was the night before he died in Southampton General Hospital, never regaining consciousness after he had been punched by this defendant.

“On that Saturday he had gone out into Newport and got drunk.

"He was around twice the drink drive limit and he was on his way home with food from a takeaway called Bite Size at around 4am in the morning.

“He had the misfortune to bump into this defendant in the street.

"He had something in his left hand when the defendant struck him with one or two punches.

“We say that the defendant threw two punches - it is probable that one missed but the one that landed was a hard punch.

“It was severe enough to fracture his left eye socket and forced him to fall and hit the back of his head on the road surface, which caused a skull fracture and severe brain damage.”

“Fifteen minutes after Mr Stacey picked up his takeaway he was as good as dead.”

The court heard that Mr Stacey died a day later at Southampton General Hospital.

Mr Houston told jurors that Cooper had gone to his parents house, where he drank half a litre of vodka and did a line of cocaine, before meeting up with his friends in Yates in Newport where he continued drinking on February 13.

That night he messaged his ex-girlfriend, who he had split up with recently, with before he headed out.

His message to her said: “Omg have just done the biggest line of cocaine”.

That night, in Yates, Cooper had sent a messaged a friend saying: “Mate the Isle of Wight is so different, like there’s no fights, everyone is scared.”

His friend Aaron Shepherd was involved in an incident with Mr Stacey outside Yates, where a policeman intervened.

Just a few minutes later, Mr Cooper tripped a man to the ground outside Hong Kong Express.

This was shown in CCTV footage to the jury, and Mr Shepherd was arrested in relation to another incident.

Cooper was later allegedly abusive towards a girl at the bus station and she described him as “abusive and spiteful”.

The court heard after Cooper punched Mr Stacey, friends of Cooper had came back and turned a lifeless Mr Stacey onto his side, but Cooper had run away.

Mr Houston turned to the jury and said: "Was that the sign of a guilty man running away?"

The case is likely to last three weeks.

Proceeding