A doctor has told a jury how an “earthquake tremor” caused ruptures in a teenage student's brain when he was allegedly smashed "in the face with a heavy object".

Senior radiologist Curtis Offiah told jurors at Canterbury Crown Court today that 18-year-old Daniel Ezzedine's life-threatening injuries were consistent with blunt-force trauma.

Prosecutors argue Mr Ezzedine’s multiple skull fractures were caused by a blow with "a bag of bricks", followed by a running kick to his head.

The Crown alleges a 17-year-old defendant, who cannot be named for legal reasons, struck the German student with the bag, before Luke Fogarolli, 18, delivered the kick.

Dr Offiah, of King’s College London, says the initial blow to Mr Ezzedine’s face - fracturing his cheekbone - caused damage to the brain, and must have been inflicted by a heavy object.

He used an “earthquake analogy”, where “tremors travelled from the left to the right side of the brain”.

“A bag containing softer items would not inflict that injury profile. In my opinion there must have been something solid in that bag to produce that fracture pattern,” he said.

The force of the blow flowed through the underside and left side of Mr Ezedrinne’s skull, causing multiple fractures in its wake, bleeding on the brain surface and numerous tears throughout the tissue, the doctor said.

He added the force of Fogarolli’s kick would not have caused life-threatening injuries in itself had there been no previous blow. He said it may have exacerbated the existing damage.

But another senior clinician at the same hospital believed Fogarolli’s kick was responsible for the lion’s share of the brain and skull damage, the court heard.

Daniel Ezzedine, 17 at the time, was left fighting for his life following two days of simmering tension between his friends and Fogarolli’s group, erupting in violence in Rose Lane, Canterbury in the early evening of June 6.

On June 4, the two groups clashed in St George’s Street outside McDonald’s. Words were exchanged, and a 15-year-old boy barged into one of the German students.

Another flare-up occurred when the groups crossed paths just after 5pm in Canterbury city centre two days later, the court heard.

CCTV played to the jury showed a skirmish with both parties trading blows before Mr Ezzedine lashed out with a kick and found himself on the ground.

It is alleged he was then struck with the bag, and then kicked in the head while motionless.

The prosecution ended its case today, with the defence due to start on Tuesday.

Fogarolli and a 17-year-old boy have been on trial this week at Canterbury Crown Court after Mr Ezzedine, now 18, suffered life-changing injuries following the alleged attack last year.

Earlier in the week a Primark security guard described the sickening sound as Mr Ezzedine was set upon.

Fogarolli, of Sturry Lane, Canterbury and the 17-year-old are on conditional bail.

Eight other suspects are due to appear in court at a later date.

The trial continues.

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