Bristol teen: 'I'm no murderer'
Thomas Swift, 18, admitted there was no justification for attacking Joe Dymond-Williams.
But he told how he knew that kicking someone hard in the head could cause them serious harm.
Taking the stand, he told Bristol Crown Court: "That night that thought was not in my head. I never had it in my mind to cause Joe really serious harm."
The court previously heard how 17-year-old Joe, a St Brendan's Sixth Form College student from Whitchurch, was attacked when he intervened in an argument between his friend and a girl in Queen Charlotte Street in June last year.
As he did so, Jack Sanderson-Hunt punched him to the ground – where he fractured his skull and lay unconscious as Swift kicked him in the right temple, causing a second fracture.
Though there were valiant attempts at Frenchay Hospital to save his life, Joe lapsed into a coma and died of head injuries two weeks later on July 8.
Home Office pathologist Dr Hugh White confirmed Joe's fall caused a 10cm-long fracture to the back of his skull and the kick to his temple caused a 3.5cm-long fracture – with accompanying brain injuries.
He said it was probable the fall was a fatal injury and the kick was a contributory factor, but it was unlikely just the kick would have caused Joe's death.
Sanderson-Hunt, 18, of Dundry View, Bristol, has pleaded guilty to manslaughter and will be sentenced later.
Swift, 18, of Ellfield Close, Highridge, Bristol, has pleaded guilty to manslaughter, but denies murder and is on trial.
Slightly built Swift spoke with a soft voice as he told the jury he was an "average" pupil at Bedminster Down School before leaving in the summer of 2007 and ended up working as a waiter at the Ramada Plaza Hotel.
He said he had been drinking alcohol every weekend since the age of 16, in a group of five friends that included Sanderson-Hunt.
Swift admitted Sanderson-Hunt had given him two Ecstasy pills in a nightclub on one night out, and he had also "tasted" an Ecstasy pill on the night before the incident with Joe.
He told the jury that on the night of the attack he had gone out with Sanderson-Hunt and, by chance, they had met Vicky Godfrey and Sophie White at Chicago Rock in town. Swift said he had downed six or seven pints of Blackthorn cider, stronger than his usual type, and while he chatted to Sophie, Sanderson-Hunt chatted to Vicky.
Swift told the court it was when the four went to QCs bar that Sophie was approached by a man called Jack Pullin, who Swift discovered was Sophie's boyfriend.
He described how Sophie and Mr Pullin argued and , Sophie was upset and there came a time when they took their argument outside QCs.
It was there, the court heard, that Mr Pullin's friend Joe tried to act as peacemaker and grabbed Sophie from behind. This angered Sanderson-Hunt, who, Swift said, punched Joe three times.
Swift recalled seeing Joe lying on the ground, not moving.
In a soft voice he told the hushed court: "He looked unconscious. I remember walking up to him and I kicked him.
"I don't remember aiming at his head. I wasn't thinking about how hard I would kick him in the head. I accept the fact I could have been running.
"I was just angry because of the way he grabbed Sophie."
Swift described fleeing from the scene to get away from bystanders trying to grab him.
He said he lied to police when he told them he hadn't kicked Joe, because he panicked and couldn't bring himself to tell the truth because of "going down for murder".
He said: "When I kicked him, Joe was completely defenceless.
"There was no reason or excuse for what I did.
"I accept the disgust of the witnesses in how they described it. I accept what I did was unlawful.
"That makes me guilty of manslaughter. I'm not a murderer in my eyes."
The case continues at Bristol Crown Court.
