A motorist who drove at speed and slammed on the brakes after a man climbed on the bonnet of his car has been found guilty of death by dangerous driving.

Jordan Thomas lay on the bonnet of the BMW being driven by Jackson Joseph Paul and died after falling backwards onto the road when the car came to a sudden halt.

Thomas, 29, sustained catastrophic injuries following the incident on Harbour Road, Onchan, on the evening of February 25 last year - and died in the specialist unit at Liverpool’s Aintree Hospital eight days later.

Paul, 35, of Palace Road, Douglas, had denied the offence but was convicted on Friday by a jury of seven people – five men and two women – after a four-day trial at the Court of General Gaol Delivery.

The jury did not believe Paul’s claims he was in immediate threat being killed or suffering serious injury at the hands of Mr Thomas. They also believed Paul’s actions were not that of a reasonable and competent motorist.

In his closing speech, prosecutor Roger Kane told the jury Mr Thomas was a man with his whole life ahead of him while the defendant is a young man himself.

Central to the prosecution case were two mobile phone videos taken by Paul’s passenger. The first showed Mr Thomas on the bonnet and the second captured the moment Mr Thomas fell backwards onto the road after Paul braked suddenly.

‘The most important evidence is the two videos which provide evidence of what happened at the crucial moment,’ Mr Kane said. ‘The videos undermines the defendant’s claims of feeling terror.

‘Why did the passenger film the incident rather than call the police and why was he laughing?’

Mr Kane also pointed out how a previous motorist, on whose car Mr Thomas jumped on, managed to drive safely away and she even came back with a family member to check on his welfare.

‘Contrast that with the actions of the defendant,’ he told the jury.

Mr Kane also claimed Paul had exaggerated the threat he felt to justify his actions and questioned whether it was feasible to put the gear into drive ‘by mistake’.

‘Life does not come with a user manual,’ Mr Kane said ‘and sometimes we just have to use our own judgement.’

Mr Kane suggested there were a number of alternative available to Mr Paul such as getting out and running away, engaging with Mr Thomas, calling the police or moving slowly away.

‘Jordan did not deserve what happened to him,’ Mr Kane told the jury. ‘While the defendant did not intend to kill or seriously injure Jordan, it was a catastrophic error of judgement.’

However, in his closing speech defence advocate Stephen Wood urged the jury to put themselves in Paul’s shoes.

‘It was the most extraordinary set of circumstances,’ he said ‘How would any of us react to such an alien and hostile moment?’

Mr Wood dismissed suggestions there were plenty of options open to Mr Paul.

‘There was no real choice,’ he said. ‘If you were sitting in the driving seat hearing and seeing what the defendant saw how is any normal motorist going to react? He was in an adrenaline-fuelled panic.

‘He is an ordinary guy put in an extraordinary situation. He was put in an impossible positions and acted in an entirely human way.’

During the trial Paul gave evidence and told the jury he thought Mr Thomas was going to break through the windscreen and attack him.

‘He came out and ran towards the car and I had to brake,’ Paul explained. ‘He then threw himself on the car.

‘I slowed down and stopped. He then grabbed the windscreen wipers. I was shocked and surprised.

‘I thought he wanted to fight me but I didn’t want to get out. He was a big guy and would definitely have knocked me out.’

After reversing a few yards, Paul said he panicked and tried reversing again, not realising the automatic vehicle was in drive and he sped forward.

On the previous day of the trial, collision investigator Claire Sproule-Craine concluded that Paul had reversed for about eight seconds before stopping and then accelerated forward, through three gear changes, to a speed of between 32 and 38 mph before Mr Thomas came off the vehicle.

The defence’s expert estimated the speed as being 29-30mph, the court heard.

Toxicology tests on Mr Thomas’s blood showed it did not have any substances in his system at the time aside from over-the-counter and prescription medication.

A roadside breath test and drugs wipe on the defendant returned a negative result.

After summing up by Deemster Graeme Cook, the jury retired and returned their verdict after deliberating for just over two hours.

There were sighs of relief from the public gallery when the foreman returned the ‘guilty’ verdict.

Deemster Cook thanked the jury and told them: ‘I think you came to the right decision based on the evidence. It was more than careless driving. It was dangerous.’

Paul was remanded in custody and will be sentenced next Monday, February 24.