A boy is accused of instigating a "revenge" attack on a man who was stabbed in the heart.
Connor Dockerty was knifed four times by a 14-year-old boy - Boy A - in a Huyton street last April.
The 23-year-old victim was attacked near the Oak Tree pub in Kingsway and died within an hour.
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A jury at Liverpool Crown Court was today told Boy A, now 15, was convicted of murder on December 2.
A second teenager, Boy B, who was then aged 15 but is now 16, denies a charge of manslaughter.
Neither boy can be named for legal reasons.
Tania Griffiths, QC, prosecuting, said Boy A murdered Mr Dockerty, which meant killing him when "intending to kill him or cause him really serious injury".
Referring to Boy B, she said: "We say he is guilty only of the lesser offence of manslaughter, not murder, because we accept that Boy B only intended to assault Connor and cause him some harm, not to kill him or cause him really serious injury."
Ms Griffiths said the prosecution case was the two teens "jointly attacked" the victim in a "planned attack", at around 8pm, on Monday, April 19.
The prosecutor said: "Boy B, we say, not only took part in the joint attack, he appears to have instigated it, in revenge for Connor having slighted his girlfriend.
"Although he was not the one who did the stabbing, he was very much involved, with Boy A, in seeking out Connor Dockerty, confronting him and taking part in the scuffle that led to Connor being killed.
"Boy B suggests that his only physical involvement during the incident was to try to protect Connor by pushing Connor away from Boy A.
"The prosecution suggest this is not true. It is not what the evidence shows."
Ms Griffiths said the "catalyst" seemed to be a "minor verbal altercation" between Mr Dockerty and three teenage girls, including Boy B's girlfriend, in Kingsway.
She said they crossed Liverpool Road and met Mr Dockerty, who was on a bike, at a "pinch point" on the pavement.
Ms Griffiths said: "Connor Dockerty seems to have barged through the group of females who were blocking his way.
"It is suggested by one witness that he took hold of one of them - Boy B's girlfriend - and shoved her into the road, or threatened to do so."
Phone records showed this girl rang Boy B at 7.50pm, and spoke to him in a call lasting one minute and 27 seconds, which Boy B accepts. At the time, he was with Boy A and a third teen, Boy C.
Boy C said he heard Boy B say "what, he's hit you?" and Boy B began "running with rage".
The following day, Boy B's dad rang police to say his son had information about the stabbing, and police visited his home to interview him as a potential witness.
However, Ms Griffiths said after Boy B made disclosures about going to Kingsway and the phone call, it quickly became apparent he was involved.
She said during his dad's phone call, Boy B was heard to refer to Boy A having "two knives".
The QC said: "We say this is relevant to Boy B's knowledge or belief that Connor Dockerty was going to be attacked and his intention to assist Boy A in that attack."
Three minutes after his girlfriend rang him, Boy B was seen on CCTV outside Stanley News and Wine in Kingsway.
Ms Griffiths said: "It can be seen that Boy B is clearly restless and agitated. He's walking up and down the road as if waiting for someone."
She said when Boy A and Boy C arrived, Boy B "appears keen for them to follow him and encourages them to do so".
Boy C later stated in an interview that after the two other boys had gone off ahead of him, they returned, when Boy A "zoomed" past on a red Trek bike and Boy B was "running".
He said: "Boy B started going 'run, run' so I was scared, like, I had a feeling in my belly something was going to happen.
"I thought, like, I thought we were getting chased... so I was just scared in the moment, so I ran and I went to my aunties."
Ms Griffiths told the jury: "We now know something had already happened - Connor Dockerty had just been stabbed."
The QC said: "The prosecution say, therefore, that it is Boy B who appears to instigate that confrontation, in retribution for the incident involving his girlfriend and her friends."
Boy A was shown on CCTV footage disposing of a knife he used to stab his victim in a wheelie bin in Kingsway.
The jury heard a second knife was recovered from a grass verge, near to where the stabbing happened.
Ms Griffiths said: "Although by no means conclusive, forensic investigations carried out following the killing suggest the findings are consistent with Boy A having carried two knives to the scene, dropping one, but using the other.
"None of the witnesses, nor indeed Boy B, suggest that Connor Dockerty was armed with a knife.
"Indeed, following Boy B's arrest on April 20, 2021, he told police while en route to Belle Vale Custody Suite 'I'm not the one who held the knives'."
Ms Griffiths told the jury: "We accept that Boy B never held the knife or knives, and never intended that a knife be used in the attack to seriously injure or kill Connor Dockerty.
"However, the comment from Boy B about the knives is important evidence against Boy B, because it shows that he was aware that there was going to be a violent confrontation.
"Indeed, we say that is exactly what he wanted - that is why they was there.
"When did he discover that Boy A was armed with a knife, or indeed, knives?
"Did he go to the scene reassured in the knowledge that Boy A had knives which would help him win the fight?
"Did he discover that fact en route to the scene, but still carried on?
"These will be important questions for you to ask yourselves."
The court heard Mr Dockerty staggered into a garden, where he was found bleeding and saying he had been stabbed, but "he could not be saved".
Ms Griffiths said: "Neither Boy A or Boy B had any injury of any note on either of them."
The QC said witnesses described a "scuffle", when Mr Dockerty could be seen "trying to get away" from Boy A.
She told the jury: "Boy B punched Connor Dockerty.
"Boy B accepts that he became involved in the physical confrontation, although he suggests only in an attempt to rescue Connor Dockerty from the attack by Boy A - i.e. he says he was seeking to protect Connor Dockerty, not hurt him.
"Boy B's case seems to be that after Boy A grabbed Connor Dockerty by the front of his jacket and repeatedly stabbed him, Boy B pushed Connor Dockerty away from Boy A, towards a garden, in an attempt to prevent further assault from Boy A, and then ran off.
Ms Griffiths alleged Boy B was responsible for effectively "setting up" the attack.
She said it would be for jurors to decide whether Boy B "intentionally assisted or encouraged Boy A to attack Connor Dockerty", intending that he was "caused at least some injury", and for them to consider whether he was aware Boy A was carrying a knife or knives.
(Proceeding)
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