Ava White: Boy showed 'callous disregard after stabbing girl'

A boy accused of murdering schoolgirl Ava White showed a "callous disregard" after her stabbing, a court has heard.

Ava, 12, was stabbed to death in Liverpool on 25 November 2021.

A 14-year-old, who denies murder and manslaughter, claims he accidentally stabbed Ava in self-defence after a row over a Snapchat video.

But Liverpool Crown Court was told the boy took selfies, ate crumpets and played a computer game after the stabbing.

In her closing speech, Charlotte Newell, QC, prosecuting, said the defendant did not want to admit that he knew he had stabbed Ava as he ran from the scene, before abandoning his knife and coat.

She said: "Otherwise it would expose his callous disregard for Ava, taking selfies, eating crumpets and playing Call Of Duty knowing he had stabbed her."

The jury was shown CCTV footage of the boy and his friends after the stabbing going into a shop, where they bought butter which he said was for crumpets and he arranged his hair for a selfie.

Ms Newell added: "Knowing he had stabbed her, his behaviour is of someone who is, at best, utterly unconcerned, at worst, rather pleased with himself, as if he feels big."

She told jurors they would have to consider whether the defendant stabbed Ava deliberately or accidentally and whether it was in reasonable self-defence.

Ms Newell continued: "His age is not a defence, he is not a babe in arms, he knows right from wrong."

She added the boy was "capable of making the decision to carry a knife" and "capable of lying about it".

Ms Newell said that in the hour before her death, Ava had been "having the time of her life with her friends".

Defending, Nick Johnson QC, described the boy as a "scared kid" who was in "an awful lot of trouble" when he lied to police.

Mr Johnson said Ava was part of a group of about 12 children who shared some vodka on the evening of her death.

He showed CCTV of two of her friends appearing to take chairs from a business and one girl "mouthing off" at an adult who went to retrieve them.

Mr Johnson said: "We have to look at the behaviour of the group, who they are prepared to confront and in what circumstances they are prepared to confront them."

He said there was an "aggressive reaction" when Ava realised the defendant and his friends had filmed her and Ava's friends "could not control her".

Mr Johnson said Ava was the "aggressor" and "wanted to batter" the boy, adding "the evidence can be uncomfortable".

He said friends of Ava, who gave evidence about the moment she was stabbed, were "simply not telling the truth about what was going on".

The 14-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has pleaded guilty to possessing an offensive weapon.

The trial continues.

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