CHICKEN catcher Paul King has been found guilty by Bristol Crown Court of an vicious attack which left his friend and work colleague Stephen Palfrey severely brain damaged.

The jury on Monday took less than two hours to find King, 23, of Downmead, Chippenham, guilty of grievous bodily harm with intent. He will be sentenced on April 4.

Mr Palfrey, 31, of Wood Lane, Chippenham, was left in a coma after the attack on April 13 last year, and spent nine months in hospital. He now suffers epilepsy and has a memory span of ten minutes, and can no longer live independently.

Michael Fitton, prosecuting, said both men spent the evening drinking with friends in Chippenham, but when Mr Palfrey returned home to Wood Lane with his girlfriend Denise Smith, King followed them in a separate taxi.

He said four witnesses saw 18 stone King grab Mr Palfrey by the throat as he answered the front door. King began banging Mr Palfrey's head against the wall before pushing him on to the stairs causing a fracture to his skull.

Witness Tracey Hibberd described how she and Denise Smith both jumped on King's back to try and stop the attack.

After knocking Mr Palfrey unconscious, King ran away, but surrendered himself to the police later that day.

In his defence, King claimed he went to the house to warn Mr Palfrey to stop beating up Miss Smith.

He said: "I grabbed him by the throat and said 'you have been hitting her again'."

In his statement to the police he said: "I just wanted to get a point across about him hitting Denise all the time. It just gets my goat. I just don't agree with beating women up."

But Mr Fitton said King, who was drunk and had been acting aggressively, went to Mr Palfrey's house with the intent of seriously harming him.

In the hours leading up to the attack, King had a confrontation with another customer in the Four Seasons pub. Later, in Buds nightclub in Station Hill, King boasted of having headbutted a man in the toilets. When he was ejected by a doorman, he went to a fast food takeaway where he tried to start a fight with another man.

King told the court: "I regret everything I have done. I am as upset as anybody else. He is a dear friend."

Judge Michael Roach described the attack on Mr Palfrey as a very serious offence.

"It is almost inevitable that there will be a significant sentence," he said.