A schoolboy bully has been convicted of blinding a fellow pupil in a "javelin-style" assault.

Josh Huggins, 10, was blinded in his right eye in the attack in Westbury in Wiltshire, by a boy who was part of a gang that had plagued him and friends for three years.

A youth hearing at Salisbury Crown Court, heard how the 11-year-old defendant who cannot be named for legal reasons, had thrown the two-foot long plastic pipe at Josh.

The prosecution said Josh and friends had been regularly pestered by the older boys, and were often spat at, kicked and punched.

You were angry because younger kids had shown you up in front of your big mates

Prosecutor Kate Brown

A girl witness told how the defendant threw half a brick at her on the same day as the attack on Josh Huggins.

Defending solicitor Jenny Ross denied any bullying by the 11-year-old, saying the incident was the result of a "tit-for-tat falling out".

But a friend of the defendant said the boy had "gone mental" when Josh had thrown a water balloon back at him, and it burst, soaking him.

Bodily harm

Prosecuting solicitor Kate Brown told the defendant: "You were very angry because these younger kids had shown you up in front of your big mates.

"That's why you threw the stick."

Magistrates found the defendant, who cannot be named for legal reasons, guilty of assault causing actual bodily harm.

The boy had denied the offence, saying he threw the pipe without meaning to cause injury.

Sentencing was adjourned until 10 December.