Teenager who killed Ava White told police ‘I’m not bothered’ as he was questioned
A 14-year-old boy who killed Ava White told police “I’m not bothered” and called an officer a “nonce” when he was being questioned about her murder, it can be revealed.
The teenage killer, known only as Boy A for legal reasons, was found guilty of murdering the 12-year-old in Liverpool city centre last November as she went to see the Christmas lights being switched on with friends, some as young as 11 years old.
The stabbing was sparked by a row over a Snapchat video after Ava noticed that Boy A was filming her and confronted him, before he pulled out a knife with a 7.5cm blade and stabbed her in the neck, damaging her jugular vein.
Ava, who is believed to be the youngest victim of youth knife violence in the UK since Damilola Taylor in 2000, died from her injuries.
Emotions ran high at Liverpool Crown Court when the verdict was delivered, with loud cheers from Ava’s family – some jumping out of their seats and punching the air in joy – while jurors were seen wiping away tears. The youth put his head in his hands and walked out of the hearing.
Mrs Justice Yip said she will sentence Boy A on July 11, but warned Ava’s family that they must prepare for it to feel “far too short” because of his age.
Throughout the trial, the court heard the troubled circumstances that the young defendant had grown up in, including smoking cannabis, being diagnosed with ADHD and having “communication skills [that] are perhaps not as developed as other 14-year-olds”.
He appeared in court via video link from the “special unit” he is being housed in, with an adult helper who often had to explain questions put to him, including once what the word “intend” meant. He occasionally played with “fidget toys” to help him deal with his ADHD and focus.
The young boy denied murdering Ava, initially telling officers he was playing the video game Call Of Duty with his friends. However, he later changed his story, admitting he was there but acted in self-defence.
The case has raised concerns about the levels of youth violence in Liverpool, with trauma surgeons and charity workers warning that young children are being dragged into knife crime in the city.
“There are a lot of young people who don’t go out without their keys, wallet, phone, knife,” Dr Nikhil Misra, a trauma surgeon at Liverpool University Hospitals, told The Telegraph.
“Unfortunately, we’ve seen a year-on-year increase in patients coming through the door with fatal or life-changing knife injuries.”
Merseyside Police had proportionally the third-highest number of knife and offensive weapon offences (686) resulting in a caution or sentence in the country, with 54 offences per 100,000 of the population in the year ending Sep 2021. The average for England and Wales was 38 offences per 100,000 people.
Dr Misra realised that Liverpool needed “the skills of a trauma surgeon in the community”, after treating a teenage boy in 2018 who was stabbed after an organised fight. He started a scheme to train young people in bleeding control – emergency care which can stop someone from haemorrhaging before paramedics arrive.
In speaking to the 1,500 people who have now been through the training, Dr Misra heard about how knives are an accepted part of many young people’s lives.
On the evening of Ava’s death, Boy A, who was also out for the evening with friends, had a flick knife in his pocket, which he told the jury he brought with him “because I thought I was big”. Boy A was not “big”: at the time of his arrest, he was 4’11” and weighed just 38.6kg (6st 1lb).
The trial heard that Ava and her friends were in Liverpool city centre just to “hang out” and, despite their age, were sharing “small bottles of alcohol” while “singing, dancing and generally messing about”.
As Ava’s group approached, he “took out his phone and began filming” before posting on Snapchat.
Ava was “not at all happy about being filmed and made that plain” and when she confronted Boy A, his reaction was “not to turn and run… or to slap or punch her, or try to grab her arms or ask anybody in the crowd for assistance… it was to reach for his knife,” Charlotte Newell QC, prosecuting, told the jury.
In CCTV shown to the court, Boy A is seen stabbing Ava, who staggers away, clutching at her neck.
After the stabbing, he disposed of his jacket in a wheelie bin, ate buttered crumpets with his friends, played video games and took a selfie in a corner shop.
He was arrested at 10.30pm on the night of the attack after initially telling his mother he was “not going to the cells”.
The jury was not told that at the end of his first police interview, he told an officer: “Shut up, you nonce.”
He also told police at one point: “I’m not bothered.”
During interviews, he denied being in the city centre on the night of the killing, claimed another boy was responsible, gave numerous “no comment” answers and said: “I don’t f------ know”.
In his evidence, the teenager was asked why he had lied to police and he said he thought he would “get away with it”.
He added: “I was scared I was going to go to jail.”
The teenager was asked why he had not agreed to give his phone to the police. He responded: “Because they always take my phone. I have had a few phones took when I was in the police station.”
‘Callous disregard for Ava’
In her closing speech, Ms Newell said the defendant did not want to admit that he knew he had stabbed the schoolgirl 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 told that “his behaviour is of someone who is, at best, utterly unconcerned, at worst, rather pleased with himself, as if he feels big”.
After two hours and eight minutes, they convicted him of murder at Liverpool Crown Court.
Merseyside Police said: “Ava’s death has cruelly illustrated to us the devastation that can be caused by carrying and using knives”, and pledged to continue to work to combat knife crime.
But for Ava’s family, it will be too late.
