14 September 2023 , 09:41
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A 12-year-old boy begged his friend to "help me" after being stabbed at his sister's bouncy castle birthday party, a court heard.
The boy - who has not been named - did not realise he'd been stabbed after allegedly being attacked by two men in his grandma's back garden in Bootle, Merseyside, on April 7, 2021. He lost consciousness in the kitchen a short time after and was rushed to hospital with three stab wounds to his leg and one to his buttock.
Mason Clague, 22, pleaded not guilty to wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and possession of a bladed article at Liverpool Crown Court yesterday. In a police interview a week after the incident, the victim claimed he and a 14-year-old friend had been throwing stones at a lamppost in the street after leaving the party at around 1.30pm.
One of the stones sailed past the lamppost and landed close to a man, alleged to be Clague, who shouted at them before running into his house. He then allegedly emerged with another man, who has not been identified, and chased the boys back to the garden where the party was in full swing.
Police at the scene in April 2021 (LIVERPOOL ECHO)According to the Liverpool Echo, the boy said: "I think he jumped up and kicked me into the bouncy castle. He jumped on top of me and started punching my face, going 'who are you, lad?' I didn't know what to do so I punched him back. The other one ran over and started poking me in the leg.
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"[The first man] was punching me still and he dragged me up by my hair and he was kicking me in the face. Everyone was screaming. My mum ran out and he was still kicking me and she screamed, and the lad was shouting 'I'll chop all of yous'." He told police how he had no idea he had been stabbed until after the chaos had broken up and he was in his nan's kitchen.
He said: "It was itchy. I felt something dripping down me. I itched it and saw I had a hole (in my trousers). I pulled my pants down and that's when I said to my mate 'I've been stabbed, help me'. I was in the kitchen. I was holding onto the sink." The boy said he recognised the first man as his nan's neighbour, whom the prosecution identifies as Clague.
He said he did not recognise the second man, but described him as a white man with "blondish, brownish hair", a short beard, and wearing a grey tracksuit. Clague denies the attack. In a statement given to police, he said he was at home when the incident took place. The trial continues.