A TEENAGER was murdered after he was ambushed at a recreation ground by two youths wearing hoodies, a court heard.

Lee Cowie punched former friend Michael Chapman, 16, to the ground and kicked him in the head.

The victim lost consciousness rapidly and died at the scene.

A witness later described how Michael collapsed after being punched and 18-year-old Cowie kicked him in the face like a football.

Maidstone Crown Court heard that Cowie boasted to friends that he had put somebody down with one punch and then kicked him in the head as hard as he could.

Alan Kent, prosecuting, said Cowie later moaned that he thought he had broken his toe when he kicked Michael at The Grove in Sittingbourne on June 16 last year.

Cowie, of Beechwood Avenue, Sittingbourne, and a 16-year-old boy, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, deny murder.

Cowie admits an alternative charge of manslaughter, while the other youth, of Broadstairs, denies it.

Mr Kent said it was accepted that Cowie's co-accused did not lay a finger on Michael, of Sheppey Way, Bobbing, but was guilty as part of a joint enterprise.

The trial, expected to last four weeks, continues.