A TEENAGE thug who left a former schoolmate in a coma after a chilling Facebook warning - then partially blinded a stranger the very next day - has been caged for five years.

The 17-year-old from Islington, who cannot be named, was among a gang who beat an ex-friend semi-conscious in a quiet Holloway street in revenge for kissing a girl he felt he had a hold over.

The jealous yob had earlier posted an internet message to his victim which read: “I’m going to cave your head in, you know who you are.”

Days before the attack, the 17-year-old had telephoned a girl threatening to “batter anyone that dated her”.

On May 21 last year he lured his former pal to a meeting outside Tesco on Holloway Road, Islington, after hearing he had tried to chat the same girl up.

Joined by his best friend, also 17, and three unknown others, they arrived in a taxi and walked the victim down a side road.

The two boys, who the victim was able to name, beat him to the ground and he was “aware of being kicked and stamped on”.

The youngster was so severely beaten he could remember nothing else, but a witness described them “kicking him like a football” for 30 seconds.

After the brutal attack, the ringleader called the girl and confessed it was him that put the victim in a coma, adding “He got what he deserved.”

The victim remained in a hospital-induced coma for six days and is still too terrified to leave the house alone.

The day after the first victim was hospitalised, the same yob targeted a complete stranger in Cleveland Road, Islington

Butcher Mark Scott, 22, was walking home from an evening out, when the teenager suddenly floored him.

Glenn Carrasco, prosecuting, said witnesses reported seeing two youths punching and kicking Mr Scott.

Then one of the boys was seen to take a running leap at the sprawled victim and “jump two-footed onto his head”.

Mr Scott suffered a fractured eye socket during the attack and still has limited vision in one eye.

The first 17-year-old admitted two charges of inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent at Blackfriars Crown Court and was jailed for five years.

The second 17-year-old, also of Islington, was found guilty of the first attack following a trial but was cleared of attacking Mr Scott. He will be sentenced on April 8.