Murdered Ava White’s schoolboy killer, 14, will not be named

One of Britain’s youngest murderers has today been given a life sentence – with a minimum jail term 13 years – for the killing of 12-year-old schoolgirl Ava White.

The killer teen stabbed young Ava in the neck with a flick knife outside a Primark in Liverpool on November 25 last year – following a firework display in the city centre.

The boy, who was 14 at the time, knifed the Year 8 Catholic school pupil after an argument about him filming her and her friends on Snapchat.

His sentencing at Liverpool Crown Court comes after a judge earlier rejected family and media demands to lift a legal provision protecting the killer’s anonymity.

The boy’s identity is automatically protected under UK law, due to him being under the age of 18. However a judge can make an order for the provision to be lifted.

Just last month, in a unrelated case involving a similarly aged defendant, a judge at Cardiff Crown Court lifted an order protecting the identity of 14-year-old Craig Mulligan after he was jointly found guilty of the murder of five-year-old Logan Mwangi.

Today, at the sentencing for Ava’s murder, an application to lift the killer’s anonymity was put forward to the court.  But it was rejected by a judge, who said there were ‘immediate concerns for the defendant if his identity becomes more widely known’. 

Judge Amanda Yip also said she had taken into account the ‘safety and welfare’ of the killer’s family in refusing the application. 

Prosecutors say the teenager, now aged 15, laughed and ran away after inflicting young Ava with a fatal injury, before throwing his jacket in a nearby bin.

However legal representatives for the boy, who did not know Ava prior to the incident, insisted during the trial he was acting in ‘self-defence’. A jury convicted him of murder following a two-week trial in May.

CCTV footage showed the boy and his friends going into a shop after the stabbing, where they bought butter for crumpets and arranged his hair for a selfie before going home to play Call Of Duty on a PlayStation 4. 

The teenager, who appeared on video-link throughout the trial, now counts among the UK’s youngest convicted murderers. 

Today Ava’s mother Leanne White told the sentencing hearing how the tragic death of her daughter has replayed in her head ever since.

The defendant, appearing via videolink, covered his face with his hand as Ms White and her older daughter Mia, 18, tearfully addressed the court, where more than 20 of Ava’s family and friends were in the public gallery. 

Delivering a heartbreaking victim impact statement at the sentencing, Ms White told the court: ‘My beloved Ava dies all over again every morning I wake up.

He stabbed the Year 8 Notre Dame Catholic College pupil with a flick knife (pictured) after an argument about him filming her on Snapchat

They said he ditched his knife, designer coat (pictured) and mobile phone in a ‘cover-up’, then took selfies, got butter for crumpets and played Call of Duty

The jacket worn by the 14-year-old boy when he stabbed Ava White. It was then thrown in a bin (pictured) where it was later found

‘She was my life, the life and soul of the party. She was a happy, healthy child adored by her family. The light of my life was dimmed forever.

‘Now I have nothing to live for. I remember how excited she was for Christmas. Never could I imagine I would never see my beautiful baby alive again.

‘My heart is broken. I will never hear her laughter or hold her in my arms. Precious memories are all I have left of my Ava.’

She described Ava as a ‘kind-hearted little girl who wanted to travel the world and would have had a ‘wonderful life’.

Leanne added: ‘Laughter was not missing from our home as it is now, neither was happiness.

‘We were once a happy family getting on with our lives. I was once outgoing, but I now dread each new day. My baby was murdered.

‘All this horror was caused by an individual who insisted on recording Ava on his phone. She was 12 years old, a child.

‘She had only gone to watch the lights being switched on for Christmas. How could we ever imagine this would lead to her death?

Leanne also thanked Merseyside Police, and the people of Liverpool, who turned up in their hundreds after Ava’s death to show their support at a vigil in her honour.

Meanwhile, Eva’s sister Mia told the court in her impact statement: ‘Since that evening, my life has gone to a standstill. From the minute my sister was taken, I’m a shadow of my former loving sister.

‘I spent most of my time with Ava. We would sit on each other beds talking about how our day had gone.

‘I even miss how she would sneak into my room and take my makeup. Since that horrific evening, I barely go out anymore or speak to my friends.

‘Seeing my cousins laugh and play hurts me. I have a picture of Ava which I kiss every day. It shouldn’t be a picture, it should be here.

‘Every day I experience flashbacks and nightmares of that horrific night. The unnecessary horrendous murder of my sister has really shocked and frightened me.’

She said her mother had worked at Primark where Ava had been stabbed outside for years before her daughter’s death but had been unable to return to work since due to it being next to the scene of Ava’s murder.

Sentencing the killer today, Mrs Justice Yip said: ‘There is only one reason why Ava is dead and that is because you chose to carry a knife and you chose to get it out and use it.

‘You enjoyed carrying a knife. You were showing it off to your friends earlier that evening.

‘It was a nasty weapon and you should not have had it.’

But rejecting the application to allow the killer’s anonymity to be lifted, she said: ‘I well understand why Ava’s family wants him to be named. In this case, there are real and immediate concerns for the defendant if his identity becomes more widely known.

‘Having considered all the circumstances, I have concluded that the public interest is outweighed by the need to safeguard the welfare of the defendant. There is evidence that the authorities harbour a genuine concern to safeguard him.’

The court previously heard how Boy A gave a false alibi to police and blamed another boy for killing Ava, before changing his story and claiming he acted in self-defence.

The teenage said he ‘didn’t mean to’ stab Ava and was ‘trying to get her away from me’.

The court was told Ava and her friends became involved in an argument with the defendant and three of his friends after the boys recorded Snapchat videos of the group.

He said he thought she was a boy, who might be armed, and feared she would ‘batter’ him.

A jury found ‘Boy A’ guilty of murder after two hours and eight minutes of deliberation and a 12-day trial at Liverpool Crown Court in May.

Some members of Ava’s family roared and cheered, with shouts of ‘yes’ and ‘get in’, when the verdict was returned. Others burst into tears and some apologised for the reaction.

The court previously heard the knife used in the stabbing belonged to the boy.

Nick Johnson QC, defending, said the defendant was carrying the knife because he had previously been a victim of crime.

At the time of Ava’s death the boy was charged with other offences which have not yet been resolved, the court was told, and had come to the attention of the authorities because of concerns he was being exploited by older, more criminally sophisticated people. 

Referring to a pre-sentence report on the defendant, Mr Johnson said: ‘One of the things that shines out is the suggestion that as part of his background he had been desensitised to violence, and that is not as a perpetrator of violence.’

The jury was shown CCTV of the boy running from the scene after Ava was stabbed – at the junction of School Lane and Church Alley in Liverpool city centre. 

A jury found ‘Boy A’ guilty of murder after two hours and eight minutes of deliberation and a 12-day trial at Liverpool Crown Court in May. Some members of Ava’s (pictured left and right) family roared and cheered, with shouts of ‘yes’ and ‘get in’, when the verdict was returned. Others burst into tears and some apologised for the reaction. 

Police cars in Liverpool city centre following the murder on November 25 last year 

A police cordon near the scene in Liverpool city centre where 12-year-old Ava White died following an assault

The teenage said he ‘didn’t mean to’ stab Ava and was ‘trying to get her away from me’. However a jury found him guilty of murder. Pictured:  Police at the scene

Tributes left at the scene where Ava White was fatally stabbed by a 14-year-old boy in Liverpool in November last year

They heard he discarded the knife and his coat, which was later found in a wheelie bin. 

About 40 minutes after he injured Ava, the boy was contacted by his mother who told him police wanted to speak to him.

The jury heard a series of text messages sent between the boy and his mother, including one in which he said: ‘I’m not coming home. Not going the cells.’

During his evidence, the teenager was asked why he had not agreed to give his phone to police.

He said: ‘Because they always take my phone. I have had a few phones took when I was in the police station.’

In March, the boy’s legal team contacted police to tell them the whereabouts of the knife he used to stab Ava.

He was asked in court why he wanted police to have that information and said: ‘Because I’m telling the truth and I didn’t mean to do it.’

The court was previously told how the youth told a police officer ‘shut up you nonce’ and boasted about smoking weed as he was questioned over Ava’s death.

He was arrested at about 10.30pm on November 25 after initially telling his mother he was ‘not going the cells’.

The jury in his trial heard edited transcripts of five police interviews carried out in the days following his arrest.

Following legal discussions, the jury was not told that at the end of his first interview, he told an officer: ‘Shut up you nonce.’

A person holds the order of service at Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral ahead of the funeral of Ava White following her fatal stabbing in November last year

He also referred to ‘smoking weed’ in part of an interview which was not read to the jury.

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, told police ‘I’m not bothered’ 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 boy was accompanied by an intermediary throughout the trial, which he attended over video-link.

He was given a fidget toy which the jury was told could help him concentrate due to his attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

The court heard the boy, who has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and attended a special school, had previously been subject to a community resolution notice after hitting a PCSO last July. 

Mrs Justice Yip said the defendant was arrested in May last year for assault on two women but the case had not been to trial at the time of Ava’s death.