A man charged in a fatal swarming attack on a Calgary teenager in 2013 smiled and gave a thumbs up to the victim’s family as a judge brought down a guilty verdict in the case.

Nathan Gervais, 24, was found guilty of killing 18-year-old Lukas Strasser-Hird Tuesday in an attack the judge called “predatory and calculated.”

The teenager was swarmed, beaten and stabbed outside of a nightclub in Calgary in November 2013. He was pinned between a wall and a dumpster where, court heard, he begged for his life.

During the trial, the Crown told the court that two altercations took place the night of the attack. The prosecutor said Gervais left the club to get a knife and then stabbed Strasser-Hird three times with the intent to kill him.

Gervais pleaded not guilty to the charge, but did not testify in his own defence. His lawyer argued that there was no proof that the murder was planned.

As the judge read the verdict to the court Tuesday, Gervais was seen smirking and laughing.

“He’s just been found guilty of killing my son and he’s smiling at me and giving me the thumbs up -- he’s a scumbag,” Dale Strasser-Hird, the victim’s father, told reporters.

“Well I laughed at him, I smiled at him and gave him the thumbs up too because he’s going away for a long time.”

Gervais failed to show up for his original trial in 2016 after fleeing to Vietnam while out on bail. He was eventually arrested in Vietnam in November 2017 and returned to Canada to face charges.

A first-degree murder conviction comes with an automatic life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for May 24.

Two others were previously found guilty of second-degree for their roles in Strasser-Hird’s death, but have appealed their convictions. A third was found guilty of manslaughter and a fourth was acquitted.

While the family waits for the outcome of the appeals, Dale Strasser-Hird said Gervais’ conviction brings them some relief on the eve of their son’s birthday.

“It’s his 24th birthday and it’s just a day every parent would remember -- their child’s birthday,” he said. “We’re just going to go out to his grave site and bring some of his favourite things, maybe just a bottle of root beer, sing happy birthday and try to remember some good things because today was a good day for Lukas.”