Teen Accused Of Killing Ava White Claims He Was Playing At Friend’s House When She Was Stabbed, Court Hears

The boy, 14, accused of murdering Ava White denied being at the scene, a court heard.

The 12-year-old girl was stabbed in Liverpool city center on Nov. 25, 2021. BBC reported that police interviews taken after the teenager was arrested were played at the trial at Liverpool Crown Court on Tuesday. The boy gave different versions of events in each of his police interview, the court heard. He refused to admit the stabbing until his fourth sit-down with the investigators.

The first interview was conducted on Nov. 26. At the time, the defendant denied having been in the city center that evening. He said that he was at a friend's house playing "Call Of Duty," on a PlayStation 4. The boy told cops that he did not want to give them information about his mobile phone as he did not want them to take it.

During the interview, police told him that they believed he was involved in White's murder and asked if they were wrong. He replied, "You've asked me like 100 times." When the officers asked him again if they were wrong, he said, "Yeah, you are."

In his second interview on Nov. 27, the defendant admitted being in the city center after being shown CCTV. The teenager claimed that his friend had been "fronted" by a boy with a "big knife" after he filmed White and her friends "drunk on the floor." The boy said that they made him delete the clip and then they asked, "Do you want me to stab you up?" The accused also said that the group threatened they would "batter" him.

In a third interview, he was shown footage of the moment White was stabbed. Then the defendant started to cry. When questioning resumed after a short break, he told cops the name of another boy he claimed had stabbed her. He said that he knew the boy a "little bit." He told police, "He told me to wear all of his clothes and I burnt all of my clothes." The teenager said that the boy had promised to give him money for swapping the clothes, reported Daily Mail.

The court heard that in a fourth interview, the teenager told cops that he knew what was going to happen to him and said that he is "going to go to care." On Nov. 28, final interview was conducted. At the time, police asked again about his account of the other boy and he admitted that he had made it up. He pleaded guilty to possessing an offensive weapon, but denied manslaughter and murder.