A teenage boy was stabbed by a jealous love rival, a court heard today.
The 16-year-old was set upon by three teens as he sat on a bench outside a block of flats in Kemp Town.
One of them, dressed all in black and masked, threw the first punches and then started filming the attack as his two friends joined in.
It was only after the attack stopped and he saw blood everywhere that the victim realised he had been stabbed – a wound he later found out had collapsed his lung.
Three teens are on trial this week at Brighton Magistrates Court. Two are charged with assault, and one with wounding with intent.
The court has been shown a taped interview with the victim. He said he had been sitting on benches outside Wiltshire House in Lavender Street on 13 September last year when one of his friends called the boy he says went on to stab him.
The friend spoke to the teen, who had just got out of prison, and arranged to meet. When the friend said the victim was there, the masked boy and his two friends turned up within seconds.
The victim said: “It was a one minute call. [The accused knifeman] had just come out of prison and my friend wanted to see him. He said where are you, who are you with. My friend said with me, and he said oh him. Then a minute later he turned up.
“More than a year ago, I was with a girl. Basically I think he like her maybe. There was no reason for him to do that. Maybe it was because I was with her and he still liked her.”
He added: “When he was coming to me, people were saying [his name]. I knew by his eye and his voice, and he’s always part of the same group.
“I couldn’t see anything. I was covering my head and then after it happened I saw him put a knife back in his waist and I stood up and saw my back was blooding everywhere and I saw him running away.
“[The knifeman] was filming me. He started filming me when his friends joined in.
“Afterwards, he said don’t snitch or something will happen.”
He said the knifeman’s two friends walked with him to the Royal Sussex County Hospital, one of them half way there, and the other to the front door.
He said that on the way, one of the friends said the knifeman had probably used a kitchen knife.
Prosecuting, Alan Balneaves said the boy accused of the stabbing denied being at the scene.
But he had been wearing a GPS tag, which allowed police to trace his movements that day – a route backed up by CCTV sightings along the way.
He said: “[The other two] say they were present, but not involved.
“This was an unprovoked attack on the victim. It could have been much, much worse.”
The trial continues.
