Alfie Lewis 'did anything he could to get away' as Leeds murder accused 'sliced' at him, witness says

A 15-year-old boy is on trial at Leeds Crown Court for murdering Alfie in front of horrified youngsters and parents outside a primary school in Horsforth on the afternoon of November 7 last year.

The defendant, who cannot be named due to his age, admits killing Alfie but denies murder, claiming it was self defence.

On day three of the trial today, a police video interview of a 16-year-old girl who saw the tragic events unfold was played to the jury. She had been outside St Margaret’s Primary School near the junction of Church Road and Church Lane.

Fighting back tears, she thought it was “just a normal fight” that had broken out in the middle of the road until she realised the boy had a knife in his hand.

She said: “I thought the suspect was beating the victim but I soon realised it was a knife. He [Alfie] was not fighting back whatsoever. He was saying ‘What are you doing?’ and ‘What is this?’. He was doing anything he could to get away.

The girl added: “He [the defendant] was trying to slice at every opportunity he could.” She said the boy then ran off and added: “He was sprinting so fast I did not get chance to look at him. I was frozen, I did not know what to do.” She said that people were “doing what they could” in coming to Alfie’s aid.

Alfie, 15, collapsed moments later after being stabbed through the heart. He was rushed to hospital but died from catastrophic internal bleeding. A post-mortem examination revealed the fatal stab injury was a 14cm deep wound to Alfie’s chest.

The court previously heard that Alfie and the boy were known to each other, having had an altercation in July last year. It had begun as a fight between the defendant and another boy, but Alfie became involved.

The last time they had seen each other, before the day of Alfie’s death, was on October 31 when the boy is said to have thrown a lit firework at Alfie. Alfie had run away from the firework but once it had gone off, he approached the boy and took the rest of his fireworks from him.

Sign up today and get the latest headlines delivered straight to your inbox, with the YEP’s free newsletter

On the day of his death, Alfie had been on his way to meet friends at around 3pm when that boy approached him and just began attacking him with the blade, the Crown suggests.

Prosecutor Craig Hassall KC said the boy then ran off and the knife was dropped on the roadside near to the primary school. The boy was arrested just half an hour later. The knife was forensically examined and found to contain Alfie’s DNA. Clothing from the defendant was later seized and also contained Alfie’s blood. The knife used also matched a set of knives the boy had at home.

Mr Hassall said the defendant has “clearly engaged in some planning” and added: “He had taken a knife from the kitchen drawer at home, painted the handle of it black and then taken it with him, expecting that he would see Alfie.”

The trial continues and is expected to last until the end of next week.