Ava White, 12, begged pals ‘don’t leave me’ after being stabbed to death at Xmas lights, court told as boy, 14, on trial

SCHOOLGIRL Ava White begged friends “don’t leave me” when she was on the ground after being stabbed, a court heard.

They were the last words the 12-year-old said to her friends before she died of her injuries, jurors were told.

A 14-year-old boy, who cannot legally be named, is accused of murdering her in Liverpool city centre in November. 

A girl, 15, told police in an interview that she thought the defendant punched Ava to the next, so ran after him. 

She returned to see Ava lying on the floor. She said:  "I remember her saying to us 'don't leave me'.

"That's the last words I heard out of her mouth."

She said the friends had been in the city centre when they noticed the defendant with three other boys filming Ava and asked them to delete the videos.

The witness claimed she had argued with the defendant.

She said: "He was going 'you scruff, you scruff' and calling me a slag and all that."

Nick Johnson QC, defending, told Liverpool Crown Court the boy said that was not true.

The girl said the group of four boys had walked away but then the defendant shouted back to them "look at the state of youse" and Ava "flipped".

She said: "Obviously Ava was already angry and she wasn't going to sit there and let a boy speak to her like that."

The court heard police went to the home address of the defendant, who cannot be named for legal reasons, at 9.10pm, just over half an hour after Ava was stabbed.

In a statement, Pc Michael Eccleston said his mother answered the door and rang the youth but he refused to tell police where he was and hung up after speaking to Pc Eccleston's colleague.

Pc Eccleston said the defendant was arrested after he was seen walking down a street at about 10.30pm.

He said the boy attempted to get away from a police vehicle by sprinting past him but he blocked the boy's path with his body.

The defendant denies murder and an alternative charge of manslaughter.

Ava's family told of their heartbreak following her death, calling her bubbly, caring and loving.

They sobbed in court as footage showed her last moments.