Teenager accused of Jahziah Coke murder claims fatal injury was not deliberate

A teenager accused of murdering 13-year-old Jahziah Coke has claimed the alleged victim picked up a knife and threatened him before a row over “missing cannabis” led to a non-deliberate chest injury.

The youth, who cannot be identified because of his age, told jurors he was left “hurt and traumatised” after grabbing Jahziah’s hands – twisting the knife towards the floor – and then seeing blood.

The defendant also told Wolverhampton Crown Court that he did not have the knife in his own hands and dialled 999 to summon paramedics, only leaving the property once he believed Jahziah was dead.

Prosecutors allege the defendant inflicted a six-inch deep stab wound on Jahziah, fled over fences and then caught a bus to a friend’s house to play video games.

The trial, now in its third week, has been told Jahziah was found dead in the hallway of a house in Oldbury by paramedics responding to a 999 call on the afternoon of August 29 last year, having suffered a chest injury which “almost completely cut” one of his ribs.

Giving evidence from behind a curtain shielding him from the press and public on Tuesday, the defendant said he had seen Jahziah in possession of a knife estimated to be “about as wide as the witness box” weeks before the fatal incident.

Alleging that Jahziah was in possession of a different knife which was about a foot long on the afternoon of August 29, the defendant said he had tried to calm down an argument about missing cannabis also involving another youth.

Jahziah picked up the smaller knife, which he had not seen before, the defendant said, telling the jury: “He started threatening me with it.

“He tried to go for me. I was kind of close to him and he came closer.”

Asked by defence counsel Paul Lewis KC what he had done next, the defendant said: “Grabbed his hand – I got both of them.

“I twisted the knife towards the floor.”

After being invited by Mr Lewis to tell jurors what had happened next, the youth continued: “I don’t know. I just remember seeing blood and then … yeah … blood on my hands.”

Mr Lewis then asked the teenager what he remembered of how the fatal chest injury had happened.

The youth answered: “I don’t know. It all happened too fast.”

Denying that he had deliberately stabbed Jahziah in the chest or that he had taken the knife off him, the boy added that he only realised the 13-year-old had been injured when he started seeing blood.

The defendant, who dialled 999 at 4.05pm to report that someone had been stabbed, said he was “hurt and traumatised” by this time and left the scene because he “didn’t know what to do”.

Details of the address where Jahziah was found cannot be published because of a court order.

A co-defendant aged in his 40s, who also cannot be named, denies assisting an offender. The trial continues.