The boy accused of murdering Ava White worried about being put into care during police interviews.
Ava, 12, was knifed in the neck in Liverpool city centre after an argument about a group of teenagers filming her on Snapchat. A 14-year-old boy denies her murder and manslaughter.
Boy A, who cannot be named for legal reasons, accepts stabbing Ava, but says he acted in self-defence. A jury today heard when interviewed by police he denied being present, before later suggesting she was stabbed by a different boy.
READ MORE: 'Murder weapon' used to stab Ava White, 12, shown to jury
Liverpool Crown Court has heard Boy A ran away after the stabbing in School Lane, at around 8.35pm on November 25 last year. He ditched a flick knife, his designer bubble jacket and mobile phone, before he was arrested in Toxteth at 10.31pm.
The prosecution case concluded today with the reading of edited versions of five police interviews, during which Boy A was accompanied by a solicitor and an appropriate adult. In the first interview, on November 26, detectives told him he was suspected of killing Ava.
Boy A, who denied being involved, said he didn't want to tell police where his phone was, because he didn't want it taken off him. He said that evening he was at the flat of a friend, Boy C, with two others, Boy B and Boy D.
He said he wouldn't tell police the full address of Boy C's flat because they knew it anyway. He added: "It's not my business to tell you."
The teenager said he was at the flat from around 5pm to 10pm, aside from when he went to a nearby shop at around 9pm to buy some food. He said he had been playing Call of Duty on a PlayStation 4.
Boy A described the clothes he had worn, including a thin black hooded jacket - not a bubble coat. Boy A said in the pocket he had "me brush and me vape".
A detective asked: "What happens if we find you on camera in town when you're saying you were at Boy C's house?" Boy A replied: "Well you won't."
One detective said police would find out his phone number. Boy C replied: "I'm not bothered."
Asked "why do you think you're here?" he answered "I don't f***ing know". A detective said they believed he was involved in Ava's death and asked "are we wrong?"
Boy A replied "you've asked me like a hundred times". He added: "Yeah, you are".
In a second interview on November 27, Boy A said everything he said previously was true and he hadn't been in town.. He was then shown CCTV footage of himself in Williamson Street.
He pointed out Boy C, who he said was "getting fronted there with a big knife". He said this was by two masked "kids" who he didn't know - referred to by the ECHO as Boys F and G. Boy A added: "That's all I'm telling you."
The jury has heard Boy C filmed Ava and a friend lying on the ground. Boy A said: "Because Boy C was videoing one of them and he deleted it and then he was saying they were going to 'stab him up'.
Boy A then added: "Can you see me getting fronted there as well?" His solicitor said: "Will you stop it?"
The teen said: "I'm not even arsed." The interview was paused so he could consult with his solicitor, before it resumed.
Boy A told police: "They made him delete the video and then they were like 'do you want me to stab you up?'"
The suspect then said he was standing away from Boy C "because they were fronting me". He pointed out the "kid" he said had a "big knife".
He said: "It was all over a video because Boy C got a video of them while they were drunk on the floor." Boy A later added: "We tried to go away and then they were following us."
Boy A said he left the coat he had been wearing in the garden of his nan's house, but didn't want to tell police where it was, because they would take it. Detectives said he would get it back, to which he replied "what in like eight months when it won't fit?" before saying it didn't have blood on it.
He said Ava's group of friends "followed us" and "they were saying they were going to batter me". Asked why, he said because he was there and "they were saying just cos I feel like battering you".
The suspect was asked how he felt about that. He agreed "obviously" he was "not happy".
He told police: "Boy C was going to get stabbed with a knife right there." Referring to one of Boys F and G, he said: "He had a blade to Boy C's belly like that, saying 'delete the video now'."
Asked was he there when Ava was stabbed, he replied "no". He said his DNA would not be on the knife that killed her.
In a third interview, on November 27, detectives told him Boy B said there had been two boys with knives. Boy A said he had been "scared".
When informed Boy B had told police a group had "run at" Boy A and he had "pushed the girl away" on School Lane, Boy A said: "Yeah and then she has tried to hit me."
He said "it just went all weird" before he started crying. After a break, he answered "no comment" to questions about something police said was in the hand of a person running away, who they suggested was him.
Boy A then claimed that person was not him, but another boy, whose surname he didn't know. It was pointed out that person was wearing the same clothes as him.
Boy A said this boy went to his nan's with him. He said the boy told him to put on his clothes, then to burn his own clothes, and said he would pay him for it, because the boy "would have went to jail".
He denied he was shown running away from the scene laughing. Boy A was then told to sit down, because he had stood up, said "move" and was asked to stay calm, before his solicitor asked for a break.
Charlotte Newell, QC, prosecuting, said: "Boy A became agitated that he was being blamed for the murder of Ava and he tried to leave the room."
The teen was interviewed again on November 28, when he initially said the other boy was responsible for stabbing Ava. When detectives suggested it was him who stabbed Ava, he said: "Go on, blame it on me."
Police asked if he would feel better telling them what happened. He replied: "What and then me go [in]to care?"
Detectives said if he was responsible for the stabbing there was a "good chance" witnesses would pick him out in an identity parade. Boy A said: "We will see, won't we?"
Boy A was interviewed for a fifth time on November 28. He was asked was he lying about the other boy and "did you make that up?"
"Yeah," he replied. Asked "what's the truth?" and "why did you lie about that?" he replied: "No comment."
Justice Yip told the jury arrangements had been made for Boy A's defence lawyers to speak with him in person tomorrow, before the trial resumes on Thursday morning.
(Proceeding)
