Teenager accused of murdering Tomasz Oleszak claims he 'pulled out knife' to fend off other teens

A teenager accused of stabbing a 14-year-old to death in a Gateshead park has told a jury he pulled a knife out to make a group of youths leave him alone.

The defendant, then also 14 but now 15, denies murdering Tomasz Oleszak, but has accepted he stabbed the schoolboy and slashed the coat of another teenager, at a Gateshead nature park last October.

Tomasz died in hospital on October 4, the day after an incident in the Aycliffe Crescent area of the town.

Giving evidence in his defence, the boy told Newcastle Crown Court he was walking with his girlfriend when a group started to follow them, that he heard heavy footsteps behind him and that the youths were getting closer.

He felt a blow to his head which caused him to stumble, he told jurors, and shouted at the group to "make myself look bigger".

He told the court: "They started walking towards us saying 'howay then, howay then'". The teenager, who cannot be identified for legal reasons due to his age, said he started fighting with the group and was knocked to the ground.

"I was trying the best to fight back the best I could," he said. "I tried to get back up. I couldn't. At that point I got my knife out."

Peter Makepeace KC, defending, asked why he had done that. "I couldn't say exactly," he replied.

"Maybe if I pulled it out they would know I have got it, they might leave me alone." He said he then started "throwing my arms all over".

"I believe I was still shouting but I don't know what exactly what I was saying."

The defendant said the group then started to run away and he thought he had slashed someone, as one of them was limping.

Mr Makepeace asked if he accepted he had stabbed Tomasz and caused the tear in another teenager's coat, and the defendant agreed. But he said he had not intended to stab Tomasz, or the other boy, and he had not meant to cause serious harm.

He denies murder and attempting to cause grievous bodily harm.

The jury has previously heard Tomasz collapsed soon after he was stabbed just above the heart in Whitehills Nature Park. The prosecution has alleged the defendant shouted "I'm gonna wet you" before he stabbed Tomasz.

The trial continues.

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