Police today released images of a seven-inch folding knife a boy used to murder 12-year-old Ava White outside Primark during a Christmas lights switch-on and a padded jacket he took off and stuffed in a bin in an attempt to avoid justice – as he was found guilty of murder.
The 14-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had claimed he accidentally stabbed Ava in self-defence after a row over a Snapchat video during the festive event in Liverpool.
But a jury took two hours and eight minutes to convict him of murder, with more than 20 members of Ava’s family celebrating after the jury foreman read the verdict.
The teenager, who appeared on video-link throughout the trial, put his head in his hands. He now counts among the UK’s youngest convicted murderers.
CCTV footage showed the ‘callous’ boy and his friends going into a shop after the stabbing, where they bought butter for crumpets and arranged his hair for a selfie before going home to play Call Of Duty on a PlayStation 4.
Prosecutor Claire Newell told Liverpool Crown Court: ‘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.’
During an interview after murdering Ava, the boy repeatedly refused to answer questions. He told police he ‘wasn’t bothered’ and said ‘shut up you nonce’ to one of the officers involved.
The teenager – who had no previous convictions – also referred to ‘smoking weed’ in part of an interview which was not read to the jury and tried to blame someone else for killing Ava. He had earlier thrown his black jacket in the bin to try and avoid it being used as evidence against him.
