Tomasz Oleszak death: Accused followed by group before stabbing

Tomasz Oleszak died in hospital the day after he was injured

A 14-year-old fatally stabbed another boy after becoming "very scared" by a group following him, a court has heard.

Tomasz Oleszak died in hospital a day after being stabbed in Gateshead in October last year.

A 15-year-old boy, who was 14 at the time, has denied murder and an attempted wounding of another boy.

Opening his defence at Newcastle Crown Court, the accused said he was walking a girl home when a group of about 10 youths started to follow.

'Figures and shadows'

Under questioning from his barrister, Peter Makepeace QC, the boy said he and a 14-year-old girl with whom he was "good friends" were walking along a path in Whitehills Nature Park shortly after 20:00 BST on 3 October.

The boy, who cannot be identified, said it was dark and the girl said to him: "Look behind us, they are following us."

He said he turned but could see only "figures and shadows" which made him "nervous".

When asked why he was nervous, the boy replied: "Because there was a group of people following us, I didn't know the area and it was a dark pathway."

He said he and the girl continued walking but the group got closer and he heard someone say something like "going to hit him".

Mr Makepeace asked the boy how he felt then, and the youth replied he was "very scared", adding: "I knew something was going to happen."

The court had earlier heard the boy left his home at about 17:00, taking with him a "small kitchen knife" which he kept in his body-warmer pocket.

Tomasz's family moved to the UK from Poland in 2012

He went to meet a friend and visited a couple of houses before meeting the 14-year-old girl at Springwell Community Hub shortly after 19:00.

He said he was walking the girl home to the Beacon Lough area and had not expected anything out of the ordinary to happen.

The boy said he did not know Tomasz and had never heard of him before the stabbing.

The court heard the boy had lived on Tyneside all his life but had not visited the Springwell area until the day before the stabbing when he met the girl.

The trial previously heard Tomasz, who moved to the UK from Poland in 2012, was fatally stabbed during unrest between a large group of youths.

His mother said she had spoken to him on the phone moments before as he was returning home from playing with friends and described him as being "happy".

One witness told police the accused killer was "bouncing all over" after the stabbing and "seemed happy" to have stabbed Tomasz, jurors have heard.

The trial continues.