A teenager accused of murdering 16-year-old Harry Pitman during a New Years Eve fireworks display told a court he carried a knife after attacks on friends and family made him paranoid.
Harry Pitman, who was in a crowd gathered on Londons Primrose Hill to watch the fireworks over the River Thames shortly before midnight on December 31, was fatally stabbed in the neck after a scuffle.
A 17-year-old, who cannot be named due to his age, has denied murder and possessing an offensive weapon.
Giving evidence at his trial on Monday, the defendant — who was 16 at the time — said he only intended to hit Harry with a sheath which contained a knife.
The defendent said the knife, which he initially hid under a bin close to the scene of the incident, was kept for self-defence after a series of local knife attacks, including on his own brother, throughout his childhood.
The youth said he did not know what happened in the immediate aftermath of the incident but said the victim had attacked him and been full of himself before the alleged stabbing.
The court heard the defendant was studying at college at the time of the incident and had no previous convictions.
Harry Pitman (pictured) was fatally stabbed in the neck after a scuffle just before midnight on New Years Eve
Police at the scene at Primrose Hill where Harry was stabbed to death on New Years Eve
The defendant told the court his older brother was stabbed when he was aged five or six, and he had taken anxiety counselling sessions during his childhood.
He said another boy was stabbed in the chest outside his home last year, while he also knew one mutual friend who was stabbed to death outside a college.
Asked by defence barrister David Bentley KC how the incidents made him feel, the youth told the court: I was very paranoid when I did go out.
I always felt like someone was trying to hurt me.
The defendant also claimed he was suffering from hallucinations and hearing things alongside his anxiety.
The court heard the youth obtained the knife three weeks before the incident from a friend because he was scared.
He said: He (the friend) suggested that I should carry a knife because a lot of people were getting stabbed in the area.
Mr Bentley asked: Did you ever intend to use that knife to cause injury to anyone?
No, the youth replied.
The defendant told jurors he had gone to Primrose Hill by cab to watch the fireworks and to get food afterwards for a friends birthday. He said had been carrying the knife in his waistband.
Flowers left in tribute on Primrose Hill in Camden, north London, where 16-year-old Harry Pitman died
He first noticed Harry when he moved towards the top of the hill, and described the victim and his friends as being a bit rowdy and all over the place.
Asked about Harry specifically, the youth said: He seemed like he was very energetic and full of himself.
The defendent ran over to Harry and his group and showed them his knife handle after he was told a friend was getting into a fight, the court heard.
He said Harry then approached him and called him a f****** c***, before hitting him on the right side of his face.
Mobile phone footage of the incident was then replayed in court at both normal speed and in slow motion.
Mr Bentley asked: Did you intend to stab Harry with that knife?
No, the defendant replied.
Did you intend to kill him? Mr Bentley asked.
No, the youth repeated.
Why was it necessary to strike out at him even with the knife in the sheath? the lawyer asked.
The defendant said: I think I just wanted him to get away from me.
Mr Bentley continued: Did you know you had stabbed him?
No, but I thought it was definitely possible, the defendant said.
Police on the scene at Primrose Hill after the incident on New Years Eve
Asked about the immediate aftermath of the incident, he said: I thought maybe I hit him (Harry) with the sheath and it flew off.
The defendant denied he removed the sheath deliberately.
The court previously heard the incident appeared to have been sparked by a scuffle between Harry and one of the defendants friends shortly after 11.30pm.
Harry was said to have been playfighting and seeing how high he could kick, causing him to lose his balance and bumping into the boy standing behind.
The victim swung a punch during the subsequent fracas before the defendant brought his right arm upwards in an arc and down, stabbing him in the neck, the court was told.
Police body-worn camera footage showed Harry moving through the crowd seeking help before he collapsed.
The defendant told the court he ran to a nearby road on his own in panic following the incident, before hiding the knife under a bin.
His friends then met him there and told him Harry had been stabbed, before the youth picked up the knife and walked away from the area, getting a cab back to his mothers address.
Police officers conduct a search on Primrose Hill in Camden, north London, where Harry Pitman died
He said he then returned the knife to the friend who gave it to him the same evening, and the friend asked him why.
I said I might have done something with it, I dont know what to do, the youth told the court.
The defendant voluntarily entered Hammersmith police station with his father on January 4 after seeing news of the stabbing on the television, the court heard.
He admitted to the court that he had lied about a series of details in two subsequent police interviews, including that he did not have a knife on him at all on New Years Eve.
Asked by Mr Bentley why he lied in the interviews, the defendant said: I was panicked and I did not want to go to prison. I was scared.
Jocelyn Ledward KC, in cross-examination, said the defendant would struggle to remember his brothers stabbing given his age at the time.
A report by a childrens mental health specialist on the youth several months after the incident outside his home said he did not think about the stabbing anymore and had no flashbacks, Ms Ledward said.
The defendant replied: It was not necessarily the stabbing I was thinking of. It was about what might happen to me.
The youth, now aged 17, who has no previous convictions, denies the charges against him.
The Old Bailey trial continues.