A student has admitted stabbing an Afghan refugee in a park in Twickenham hours after being convicted of having a knife.
Hazrat Wali, 18, died in hospital after being attacked at Craneford Way Playing Fields, south-west London, on the afternoon of October 12, 2021.
Players at a rugby match between Richmond School and Hampton School saw part of the attack, jurors were told.
A 17-year-old boy is on trial at the Old Bailey, charged with the murder of Mr Wali.
On Wednesday, jurors heard the defendant was caught with a black knife at the Southside Shopping Center in Wandsworth on August 5, 2021.
He pleaded guilty and was sentenced by Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court on the morning of October 12 to a youth rehabilitation order.
Testifying with the help of an intermediary, the youth said he agreed to stabbing Mr Wali later that day, but denied that he intended to kill him or cause him serious injury.
When asked why he pulled out the knife, he said he and Mr Wali were “pushing” each other and he wanted to be left alone.
He got “frightened” when Mr Wali called someone to “back up”, telling someone on the phone to “come quickly”, the accused said.
The defendant, who was 16 at the time, added: “I thought he had something on him, a knife.”
Garry Green KC, defending, said: ‘The jury knows you have carried a knife in the past. Do you accept that to be true? »
The defendant agreed and said it was “for my own protection”.
He told jurors he had been attacked in the past, as had a cousin and friend.
The court showed a photograph of the defendant’s hand, which needed stitches after being attacked with a knife in New Cross in 2020.
The accused said he discovered via Snapchat that a friend, Louis Johnson, had been stabbed to death.
He said his mother warned him to “watch your back”.
In November 2020, some older boys pressured him to travel to Wiltshire to sell drugs from a house, jurors were told.
After agreeing to leave, he was away from home for a few days before calling his mother, who picked him up.
He told jurors the older boys were “unhappy” and threatened him.
Mr Green asked: ‘So in general, in October 2021, how did you feel about yourself when you were walking down the street?
The defendant replied, “I felt unsafe at times.”
Mr Green said: “Is that why you had a knife on you on October 12?”
The youngster, who was enrolled in college at the time, replied: “Yes”.
Earlier the court heard that Mr Wali was sitting in the park with a female friend when they were approached by the accused and five other teenagers.
One of the girls in the group said the couple looked “good together”, which allegedly led the accused to insult Mr Wali.
Mr. Wali stood up and approached the accused, the jurors heard.
Words were exchanged and there was a jostling before the accused pulled out a knife and stabbed Mr Wali in the side.
The knife penetrated 10cm into Mr Wali’s liver, causing “massive and fatal blood loss”, the court heard.
Emergency services were present but Mr Wali, from Notting Hill, west London, died around an hour later.
The accused, who cannot be identified because of his age, denies the murder. The trial continues.
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