MEMBERS of a gang accused of murdering a Teesside man killed after he confronted misbehaving youths bragged about what they had done, a court was told.

Shane Tunney was hit with a metal bar and repeatedly kicked and punched during a prolonged attack in Norton, near Stockton.

Seven teenagers deny the 24-year-old’s murder in the early hours of June 27 last year and are on trial at Teesside Crown Court.

Zoe Buckle, who said she knew all of the accused teenagers, was asleep at her home in Norton when three of the defendants arrived.

She said there was talk about going back to collect a mobile phone and one of them said: “We have just done this lad in the village. I think we have left him for dead.”

The witness said: “They were basically bragging about it, they were buzzing off it.”

She said they were “high fiving each other” and one was “doing all the actions”.

“He had a look of evil in his eyes, the way he was looking, it was not normal,” she added.

Another prosecution witness Charlie Salisbury, who was in her car when she saw an ambulance and thought someone had been run over, said some of the accused were “hyper and jumping around” in the aftermath of the assault.

Miss Salisbury, who said she knew one defendant, a 17-year-old who she agreed was “sweet” on her, said: “They were like boxers. They were doing little skips and play fighting. I could see them swinging their arms about and pretending to hit each other.

“It made me feel uncomfortable.”

The trial has heard how Mr Tunney, a car valet from Norton, was pelted with rotten food as he used a cashpoint in the High Street and challenged the gang of teenagers allegedly responsible.

Brandon Pitt, Kieron Harry Davis, his cousin Kearan Terry Davis and Jake Douglas deny charges of murder and also assaulting Mr Tunney’s friend Anthony Kirk.

Three others - two aged 17 and one of 16, none of whom can be identified because of their ages - have also pleaded not guilty to the same charges.

The trial, which will enter its seventh day on Monday, continues.