Boys, 14, `tried to copy film killings'

TWO BOYS of 14 stabbed a 13-year-old friend and left him for dead at the foot of a cliff after watching a video of the horror film Scream, a court was told yesterday. The victim lay there for 40 hours before being found by a passer-by.

The pair plotted to murder the boy and lured him to a secluded beauty spot to carry out the savage attack, which left wounds to his head, face, chest and arms, Andrew Robertson QC, for the prosecution, told Hull Crown Court.

The pair then left, believing they had succeeded in killing, with one saying "He's dead, let's bag him." The stabbed boy, had "missed death by a millimetre", the court heard.

Mr Robertson said all three boys lived in Harrogate, North Yorkshire. On the afternoon of 17 January they watched Scream, in which college students are stabbed, at the home of a local man who was described as a "highly undesirable individual". One of the alleged attackers was said to have taken cocaine at the man's home.

Later that evening the three boys went to a local beauty spot called Birk Crag to break into a clay pigeon shooting tower. When this failed, two of the boys persuaded the third to go down to the bottom of the crag. "They wanted to do that so they could kill him, having earlier agreed to do just that," said Mr Robertson.

The injured boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the court how he played dead to stop being stabbed. Giving evidence on video, he said: "I knew they would keep on stabbing me as long as I was moving. I tried to keep very still and I remember one saying, `He's dead, let's bag him'. They pulled out a black bin bag and tried to put it over my head. Then they put it round my feet and ran off

"I was dreaming about lying at home in bed but every time I turned to get out of bed there were loads of brambles there. I was expecting them to come back the next day to see if I was dead. Luckily, they never came back."

The victim told the police that he heard the pair discussing where best to stab someone and then felt one of the boys ramming a knife into his head. Mr Robertson said: "He said, `You're going to die' and then put the knife sideways through the boy's cheek, hitting his teeth."

The victim tried to run, but was stopped by the second attacker, the court was told. He remembered the first attacker repeatedly ramming the knife into his head.

"He lay there in a gruesome state, but still alive for 40 hours," said Mr Robertson. "It was by good chance and good fortune that he was eventually found by a man out walking his dog."

The youngster was winched to safety. He underwent brain surgery, and a neurosurgeon said one of the wounds missed a vital vein by one millimetre.

The two boys were arrested a few days later after the victim was able to speak to detectives. Both deny attempted murder.

The case continues.