‘I was not planning to kill him’: Boy accused of murder gives evidence in trial

A boy accused of murder following an arranged fight that ended in a fatal stabbing has denied planning to kill Christopher McBurnie in advance.

The trial of a 15-year-old accused of murdering 14-year-old Christopher, who was fatally stabbed in Ramsey on May 29 last year, is continuing.

The defendant, who cannot be named for legal reasons, admits inflicting the fatal wound but claims he acted in self-defence. He denies murder.

On Monday, the defendant was cross-examined by prosecutor David Temkin KC via video link.

Mr Temkin said the defendant had made 11 threats to kill Christopher in messages exchanged before the incident and had been the first to make such threats.

He suggested to the defendant that he had decided to kill Christopher ‘hours before’.

But the defendant said: ‘I did not mean those threats, they were just empty threats. I was not planning to kill him.’

Asked when he decided to stab Christopher, the defendant replied: ‘It was after he first attacked me and was coming at me again.’

He continued to deny having decided to kill Christopher beforehand.

Mr Temkin also questioned the defendant about being ridiculed after failing to attend a fight in Douglas the previous year.

The prosecutor suggested he had again been ridiculed in a Snapchat group chat earlier that day and the previous evening.

Mr Temkin said: ‘You wanted to show that if you said you were going to do something you did it.’

The defendant disagreed, saying: ‘I disagree’.

The boy was also questioned about Snapchat messages in which he appeared to goad Christopher, repeatedly telling him to come to Ramsey.

The defendant had also sent his address and a photograph of his house.

Mr Temkin suggested he was desperate for Christopher to visit his home while his parents were away.

Explaining why he sent his address, the defendant said: ‘If I didn’t send my address they would ask why and I would have got bullied.’

Mr Temkin also asked why he had been the first to send a message the following morning, asking Christopher about travelling to Ramsey. The defendant described it as ‘bravado’.

Asked whether he was ‘ready and waiting for Christopher’, the defendant replied: ‘No’.

Earlier, the defendant said he could not remember how many times he stabbed Christopher or where the wounds were inflicted, adding that ‘it all happened in a matter of seconds’.

He added: ‘I stopped stabbing him when he left through the gate and the threat was going away.’

The defendant first took to the stand on Thursday when he was asked questioned by his advocate Siobhan Grey KC - you can read the full report from that day in court here.

The trial continues.