A youth giving evidence at his trial for allegedly murdering 17-year-old Joshua Hall in April this year told a jury today that he didn't realise he had stabbed the teenager until he lifted up his top and showed him.

The 16-year-old defendant, giving evidence at Gloucester Crown Court, explained that there had been an ongoing tension between his group of friends and Joshua's own circle of friends.

The smartly dressed defendant, who cannot be named for legal reasons, explained that there were additional tensions in the area when other groups with knives descended on Dursley and from drug dealers operating in the town.

"I was able to stop one encounter because I had known somebody in the rival group. They had at least one kitchen knife between them.

"I was also punched in the face on another occasion after I was bundled into a car. A vehicle drew alongside me, and the occupants dragged me into the car and my hoodie is pulled up over my face. I then got punched in the face. After a short time, I was kicked out and the driver drove off. I lost a silver tooth accessory during this incident.

"After this a knife was given to me for my own protection. I carried it with me when I went out for long periods of time. This was about six weeks before the incident with Joshua.

"I just wanted the knife as a backup. This was a stupid decision in hindsight.

"On one occasion I was carrying the knife near a local supermarket when there was a bit of pushing and shoving between us and another group. All that happened on that occasion was that a single punch was thrown. I didn't show the knife.

"Another occasion is when I was walking home, I saw two people sitting on a bench near my house smoking weed. I thought it might have been a drug dealer and I got ready to pull my knife from my bag.

"I was relieved when I saw the two people and realised it was some friends. I showed them my knife before I went on home.

"In the run up to the incident with Joshua, I'd heard that he and his friends had jumped a boy and that an alleged drug dealer had chased them off.

"They came to me, and I said I would try and sort it out with Joshua and his friends. We spoke to them on the phone, but this ended up with all of us shouting at each other in a big argument.

"Joshua stated that he had anal sex with a girl on the phone, which made me feel angry. I told him to shut up, but I couldn't hear what the others were saying as they were all shouting down the phone at the same time."

The defendant explained that he had got involved with Joshua because he believed that he had beaten up a friend of his.

The defendant said: "This is because of what Joshua had said about a particular girl, I wanted to talk to him and discuss it with him, but he didn't want to know."

"On April 16, at 12.08pm I had a message from Joshua to meet up and we agreed to meet at the Bulldogs (the cricket ground) at 1.30pm.

"I messaged a friend to come with me when I met up with Joshua. I had already arranged to meet with another so the three of us got a lift with a local builder to the sports ground.

"I was asked by Joshua to meet with him to sort out our differences. I was warned that he would probably have a few others with him so I was glad I had my friends with me.

"I thought it would be the typical argument that would result in pushing and shoving and maybe a few punches.

"While I was walking to the pavilion, I was asked by one of my friends if I had a knife with me. I lifted up my T-shirt and revealed that the knife was in my waistband.

"We walked up to the pavilion steps, and I shouted at Joshua, 'What have you been saying about the girl?

"As I approached Joshua he got up and I repeated what I had just said. He pushed me and I pushed back, and we began swinging punches at each other.

"We were at arms distance from each other when I reached for my knife and began poking him. I was just trying to scare him off, but he kept coming at me and swinging punches at me.

"I didn't know that I had stabbed Joshua until he lifted his shirt and showed me that he had been stabbed.

"I broke down in shock when I realised what I had done. I only wanted him to back off.

"One of my friends yelled at me, 'Come on let's go,' and I followed him out of the field."

The youth denies murdering Joshua Hall at Cam, near Dursley, Gloucestershire, on Saturday, April 17, 2020 and the trial is ongoing.