A teenager accused of beating a man to death told a witness to the attack, “You’re next”, a court was told.

Shane Bryant told Lewes Crown Court he watched as Shane Noble and a 15-year-old attacked Christopher Poole outside the Premier convenience store in Hydeneye, Eastbourne, in August.

He said that after leaving Mr Poole lying unconscious on the floor, the teenager walked up to Mr Bryant and said: “You didn’t see anything. You didn’t hear anything or you’re next.”

Mr Bryant said he had been smoking a cigarette outside the shop when he saw Mr Poole get into a row with a group of youths, but said he could not hear what the row was about.

He said he then saw a 15-year-old boy punch Mr Poole before Noble ran out of a nearby flat and attacked the victim.

Paul Bogan, defending Noble, suggested to Mr Bryant that he had not heard him say “You’re next”, but only “You didn’t see anything, keep quiet.”

Mr Poole’s friend, Mickie Geal, told the jury she had seen Noble punch Mr Poole in the side of the head from her balcony, which looks down on the area outside the shops.

She said she had seen Mr Poole arguing with the 15-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, before Noble punched him.

She said: “He took Chris completely off his feet. It was a proper punch with a clenched fist. Chris went straight to the floor, straight on his back. He tried to get back up but wasn’t steady.”

Ms Geal ran down to help her friend and found him lying in the street.

Fighting back tears she said: “There was blood coming from the side of his head. I shouted for someone to call an ambulance.

“I was feeling for a pulse. I went down on my knees to try to see if I could hear him breathing. I put my hand on his chest to try to feel the movement but couldn’t feel anything.”

Ms Geal said she stayed with Mr Poole until his partner Penny Mewitt and an ambulance arrived.

Mr Poole was taken to hospital but died the following morning.

Noble, 19, of no fixed address, and a 15-year-old both deny murder. The trial continues.