MURDER TRIAL LATEST: Teenager tells court he "just lost it" and started stabbing Roberts, 12

The defendant, aged 14, who cannot be identified because of a court order, said he arranged to meet Roberts Buncis at 3.30 am on the morning of 12 December to discuss selling cannabis.

“He (Roberts) was going to take it from me and sell it on,” he said.

He said he was going to give Roberts an ounce of cannabis to sell which had been divided into eight amounts. The boy said he paid £150 for the drugs and was expecting it to sell for £280.

The teenager said Roberts was to get £50.

The defendant said: “I told him that he was going to sell weed for me. He asked about the money. I said I didn’t have the money.

“He started getting quite agitated and quite angry that I didn’t have the money.”

The teenager said Roberts swore at him and accused him of getting up in the middle of the night for no reason.

“I just started laughing at him. Then as I was laughing, I saw this silver thing coming at me. It was a knife. I panicked and tried to grab the knife off him.

“I grabbed it just above the blade. My hand was around the blade. Cuts to my hand were caused by trying to grab the knife off him.

“I just started stabbing him. I just lost it.”

He said he remembered causing some of the injuries including stabbing Roberts to the neck.

Defence barrister Brendan Kelly QC asked the 14-year-old: “Were you wanting to kill him?” The defendant replied: “I don’t remember.”

Mr Kelly asked him: “What caused you to lose it?” The defendant responded “I’m not sure”.

The boy was then asked: “Did you mean to hurt Roberts?” He responded: “No”.

Mr Kelly then asked him: “Did you mean to kill Roberts?” He replied: “No”.

The defendant said that after stabbing Roberts he ran home and stayed up for the remainder of the night smoking cannabis. He said he put his clothing into a ceramic pot in the back garden of his home and set fire to it.

He said he disposed of the cannabis he planned to give to Roberts but did not know where.

The boy told the jury that before going out to meet Roberts he had been smoking cannabis and drinking alcohol.

The prosecution says that the 14-year-old lured Roberts' out of his home in the middle of the night and then stabbed him "again and again". Roberts' body was found on the morning of 12 December 2020 in a wooded area near to Alcorn Green in Fishtoft on the outskirts of Boston. He had more than 20 injuries with over 70 cuts to his body.

The defendant admits manslaughter but denies the murder of Roberts Buncis on 12 December 2020.

The trial continues this afternoon.