Nottingham fire death: Boy admits killing woman and burning body

The boy admitted the attack but said he lost control after being provoked, the jury heard

A schoolboy charged with murder has admitted in court to killing a woman and setting her body on fire.

However, at his trial at Nottingham Crown Court, the boy denied murdering the woman, who sustained hammer wounds.

The prosecution said the victim's body was padded with paper, covered in petrol and set on fire at her home in 2011.

The teenager, who said he was provoked in a row, cannot be named for legal reasons.

'Lost control'

During cross-examination, he was asked what he had done and the teenager replied: "I killed her, basically".

He said the killing was not murder because he had been provoked and had lost control.

The teenager, in response to defence questioning, said he was obsessed with "how to get away with them violent crimes" and had written a story that mapped out what happened that night.

'No risk'

"In the story, I got away with it," he told the court.

"And I thought I could get away with it, in real life.

"This was real, it wasn't pretend. It was stupid."

The jury heard earlier that authorities raised concerns about the boy's behaviour in the months before the attack.

He told a counsellor voices were telling him to hurt people and that he had had visions of killing people, the court was told.

However, several experts concluded he was not mentally ill and he did not pose a risk.

The trial continues.