A man has told a jury that he fatally beat a teenager "to defend a 14-year-old kid from being stabbed to death".
Keiron Williams is one of nine defendants currently on trial accused of murdering Michael Toohey at an internet café in Liverpool city centre in the early evening of April 16 this year. The 18-year-old died after allegedly being chased into Mobiles Junction and Internet Café on Monument Place, off London Road, and battered by a gang who were "called in" by a 14-year-old boy.
Jurors previously heard that the deceased had been pressured into selling drugs by a man referred to as "Gerry", with the incident coming against the background of a "war" between rival dealers. But Williams claims that he raced to the scene after being told that Mr Toohey had threatened the youth with a knife, and that the teen had then brandished this weapon once he pursued him into the shop.
