A TEENAGER who was filmed "laughing and dancing with euphoria" in front of the unconscious body of a man he had just punched to the ground has been found guilty of the attack.

Jason Davis was left in a coma with a fractured skull and bleeding on the brain after the attack in October last year.

In finding the 16-year-old guilty of causing grievous bodily harm, District Judge Peter Greenfield described him, and the gang of friends he was with, as behaving like "a pack of jackals".

Rejecting his claims he had acted in self defence, District Judge Greenfield cited the teen's actions after the event, which was filmed by another member of the gang and posted on social media.

The short clip, which was shown during the trial at Southampton Youth Court, showed the youth laughing as Mr Davis lay unconscious and bleeding on the pavement behind him.

Describing the youngster's actions, District Judge Greenfield said: "Laughing and dancing in front of the camera are not the actions of someone who had acting in self defence.

"It was not the actions of someone that was so scared and threatened that they had to punch a man so hard that it caused him serious injury. It was an upper cut that sent him flying."

The 16 year old was standing trial alongside another 16 year old who was also found guilty of assaulting Mr Davis after he too joined in the attack. Neither can be named for legal reasons.

He said he had pushed Mr Davis the back in a bid to get him off his friend who he claimed he had grabbed hold of.

But the judge said he did not find that version of events credible and believed the prosecution case that the youth had deliberately assaulted Mr Davis by punching him on the back of his head, causing him to stumble forward. It was as Mr Davis was recovering to his feet that the final punch was delivered which sent him to the ground.

Witnesses standing at a nearby bus stop described seeing Mr Davis surrounded by members of the group and hearing a "loud crack" when Mr Davis hit the ground face first.

The pair were also each convicted of a public order offence after witnesses described seeing them taunt Mr Davis, a businessman, in the run up to the assault. The group were described as circling Mr Davis, who was wearing a Saints shirt, and taunting him with chants about their rivals Portsmouth.

Describing how they and the rest of their group behaved on the evening of October 25, District Judge Greenfield said: "It was like a pack of jackals trying to nibble away and seeing how far they could push it."

The trial had previously heard how Mr Davis had been watching Southampton play Liverpool with friends at a pub in Hythe that day.

Describing how the group targeted him, District Judge Greenfield said: "The group was essentially one entity with a common purpose in pursuing Mr Davis that night "He was vulnerable in that he had been drinking, he was not in a position to defend himself at all.

"He simply had the misfortune to meet this group of youths who started taunting him."

As reported the pair were part of a group who were pursuing Mr Davis in the St John's Street area.

As he walked away Mr Davis became involved in an incident with one of the boys who was apparently taunting him with witnesses describing seeing the businessman strike out at him.

As the youngster called police the rest of the group then followed Mr Davis before the assault began.

They claimed they were following him to keep an eye on him until the police arrived. That too was discredited by the judge.

"No one in that group wanted to leave the situation once it had started. It seems to me that the way to stop the situation escalating was to disperse and they didn't do that,"he added.

Describing the two boys involved in the attack, District Judge Greenfield said: "These two could have left (the other members of the group) to their other antics with Mr Davis. That option they chose not to take. They chose to tag along and essentially follow him home taunting him and causing him some difficulty. He was an easy target for them.

"It was going to end, and it did do, badly."

The pair will be sentenced on September 1. A 15-year old has already been given a two-year youth rehabilitation order after admitting a public order offence in connection with the incident.

Mr Davis told the Daily Echo he did not want to comment until the pair had been sentenced.