Teenage defendant tells jury he stabbed at boy, 16, but did not mean to kill him

A teenager has told a jury he “stabbed at” a 16-year-old boy in a park but did not mean to seriously injure or kill him.

Darrian Williams sustained a fatal stab wound to his back during the incident in Rawnsley Park play area in the Easton area of Bristol at about 5.30pm on February 14.

Two boys, aged 15 at the time and now aged 16 – who cannot be named for legal reasons, deny his murder and are on trial at Bristol Crown Court.

One of the boys gave evidence to the court on Friday, telling jurors how he had met his co-defendant to “hang around and chill” earlier in the day.

He told how he was wearing a balaclava, as he did regularly, adding: “It’s fashionable for young people these days” and carrying a kitchen knife following a previous incident in the city.

The boy said they cycled past Rawnsley Park on their way to the St Pauls area of Bristol – spotting Darrian there – then returned a short time later.

He claimed Darrian had shouted “yo, yo” at them, which he took to mean they should go over to him.

“I dropped my bike. I went towards him. I said ‘wa gwan’. Darrian went back and kicked me in my chest area,” he said.

“I stumbled backwards. He kicked [the co-defendant] in the chest area. He fell to the ground.

“I moved around the bench. After he kicked [the co-defendant] I saw his hands around his waist. I was fearing that he was pulling out a knife. I heard something about a shank. A shank is a knife.

“I was quite scared. I had butterflies in my stomach. I pulled out my knife quickly and I stabbed at Darrian.

“I heard Darrian’s coat rip.”

Garry Green KC, representing the boy, asked: “Were you trying to kill him?”

The boy replied: “No.”

Mr Green asked: “Were you trying to seriously injure him?”

The boy said: “No.”

He told the jury that Darrian, who he said did not appear to be injured, then ran away, with the defendants chasing him “for five seconds”.

They then spoke to two friends who Darrian had been with, who asked who the defendants were.

The boy replied: “One of the two said ‘are you 6s or 2s? I said ‘do I look like I’m 6?'”

Michael Burrows KC, prosecuting, previously told the court there are two gangs in Bristol that have been in conflict for each other in recent years.

The 1-6, also known as the 16s or 6s, which is associated with the Fishponds, Hillfields and Oldbury Court areas. The 2-4s, or 2s, is linked to the St Pauls and St Judes areas of Bristol.

Mr Burrows previously described the incident as “some kind of gang attack”.

Following the incident, Darrian ran from the defendants and reached a nearby dual carriageway, where he got into the passenger seat of a passing van.

The driver tried to take him to a police station and pulled over on West Street in the Old Market part of the city, where Darrian received medical attention but was pronounced dead at 7.10pm.

A pathologist concluded that his cause of death was a single stab wound to his back.

During his evidence, the 16-year-old defendant said he left the park with his co-defendant and later told him “I might have stabbed Darrian”.

He told how he later saw pictures of Darrian posted onto Snapchat with an emoji of a white bird, which made him think he “might have died”.

The boy said: “I was feeling worried.”

Following his arrest, he told jurors he took the advice of his solicitor and remained silent during interviews.

During questioning by his barrister in court, the boy said he had started carrying a knife to protect himself and others following an incident in a McDonalds branch in Bristol, on February 8.

The court heard how a 16-year-old boy, who is not part of the case relating to Darrian and cannot be named for legal reasons, had been stabbed in the stomach with a machete, sustaining serious injuries.

When asked how the incident made him feel, the defendant said: “I felt like I wasn’t safe.”

The two 16-year-old defendants are each charged with Darrian’s murder, which they deny.

Their trial continues.