Murder-accused denies using knife on stabbed teen

A 16-year-old boy has told a murder trial that he decided to plan a knifepoint robbery of a fellow teenager but did not stab him.

Luis Guembes, 15, died in Stoke Park, Guildford on 19 January after he was stabbed in the head, shoulder and lower back.

Two boys, aged 15 and 16 at the time, deny murdering Guembes and are on trial at Guildford Crown Court. They cannot be named due to their age.

One defendant, the second to testify, told jurors on Tuesday that Guembes had damaged his phone months earlier while exploring a World War Two air raid shelter and owed him £40.

The defendant has admitted charges of conspiracy to rob and possession of a bladed article.

"Luis said he didn't have any money at the time but he offered to rob someone with me," the boy told the court.

"I said if you cannot get the money we can do that but I'd rather you get the money first."

The teenager said he told the younger defendant, who is now 16, that Guembes "thought he would be robbing someone but he would be the one getting robbed".

Asked why he decided on this method by his defence barrister Tim Forte KC, he said: "In my past experiences I've been robbed at knifepoint and when I was robbed at knifepoint I just gave up my possessions."

The teenager was also asked who started a fight involving the victim.

"It's quite difficult to tell," the defendant said.

"On one hand I threatened him with a knife but on another hand he punched me first, so it depends which way you look at it."

He said: "I did not use that knife against him."

The defendant told the court he had taken his father's bushcraft knife to threaten Guembes and that he had shown the victim the weapon while his co-defendant had told him to "hand over his phone".

The older defendant told the court Guembes punched him multiple times before they ended up in a scuffle.

"I'd say me and Luis were grappling on the floor," he said.

"I kind of grabbed Luis. I wasn't trying to harm him in any way, I was just trying to get the phone."

The defendant told the court it was "hard to tell how long" the grappling went on for before he "basically got up and left".

"I heard Luis shouting and by time I left he was standing up," he said.

The defendant says he could see his co-defendant when he looked back and blood on Guembes's face.

"I saw [the younger co-defendant] in my peripheral vision, maybe swinging, I think he was trying to grab the phone," he told the court.

The younger defendant previously denied stabbing Guembes or intending to hurt him.

The trial continues.

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