FAMILY IN TEARS AT AVA STAB FOOTAGE
Court shown 12-yr-old’s last moments
SCHOOLGIRL Ava White’s family wept in court as the final moments of her life were played to a jury.
CCTV footage showed the moment the 12-year-old was stabbed and her alleged killer fled the scene.
A 14-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, inflicted the fatal injury in Liverpool city centre on November 25 last year.
They had met by chance at a Christmas lights switch-on and rowed after Ava and her friends spotted the boy and his friends filming them on their phones.
A short video was played which, the court heard, had been posted on Snapchat by the defendant, showing
Ava sitting on the ground, surrounded by friends.
Ava and her friends are seen approaching the defendant, who was with three other boys.
Police investigator Callum Suggit told Liverpool crown court: “There are some altercations between Ava and other members of the group.”
Footage captured from cameras at the back of the city’s Primark store at 8.35pm showed Ava pushing the defendant and him backing away, before raising his hand, showing a “reflective object”.
The video then showed him running away and Ava holding her neck. Charlotte Newell QC, prosecuting, said: “It’s apparent, in that second or two, that is when Ava has received her injury?” Mr Suggit said: “It is, yes.” Family members were in tears as the video was played.
The defendant, who appeared in court via video link, was then captured on a number of cameras as he ran away, through the city centre, with a friend. The court was shown a picture of the knife allegedly used to stab Ava, which was later found discarded, and of the coat worn by the defendant, which was in a wheelie bin. The teenager denies murder and an alternative charge of manslaughter, and asserts that he was acting in “reasonable self-defence”. The trial continues.