Every time I wake up, Ava dies all over again: Mother of 12-year-old stabbing victim sobs as teenage murderer is jailed for at least 13 years
- Ava White’s mother Leanne, 39, sobbed as teenage murderer jailed for 13 years
- Her 12-year-old daughter was killed by ‘smirking’ schoolboy after Snapchat spat
- Unnamed boy claimed he stabbed Ava in self-defence, but was convicted by jury
- Leanne said time has stood still since her daughter was killed last November
The mother of a 12-year-old girl murdered by a ‘smirking’ schoolboy after a petty social media row broke down in court yesterday as he was locked up for at least 13 years.
Leanne White, 39, sobbed as she described how time had stood still since her daughter, Ava, was stabbed in the neck after watching the Christmas lights being switched on in Liverpool city centre.
Ava bled to death after being attacked by the baby-faced thug, then 14, following an argument over a Snapchat video last November.
Leanne White (left), sat with older daughter Mia, 18 (right), said Ava dies ‘every day’ for her
The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, claimed he stabbed Ava with the three-inch flick knife in self-defence, but a jury rejected his account and convicted him of murder following a two-week trial in May.
Holiday picture with Leanne White (centre), slain Ava (right) and big sister Mia (left)
Liverpool Crown Court heard the boy was de-sensitised to violence after witnessing his father attack his mother at home and had been made the subject of a community resolution notice four months earlier for hitting a police community support officer on the head.
At the time of Ava’s murder, he was also awaiting trial for assaulting two women and had come to the attention of police because of concerns he was being groomed into a criminal gang, the court heard.
Sentencing the boy, who has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and attended a special school, High Court judge Mrs Justice Yip told him he would serve at least 13 years in a young offenders’ institute and prison before being eligible for parole.
She said it was a tragedy that ‘something so small’ as a social media video had led to Ava’s death, but told him: ‘There is only one reason why Ava is dead and that is because you chose to carry a knife and you chose to get it out and use it.
‘You enjoyed carrying a knife. You were showing it off to your friends earlier that evening. It was a nasty weapon and you should not have had it. You said that you carried it because you thought you were big.’
The judge rejected calls from Ava’s family and the Press for the boy, now 15, to be named, saying the risk to his family, and in particular his younger siblings – one of whom had not been told about the crime – was too great. His mother and siblings have been forced to move away from Liverpool as a consequence of his crime.
Ava had been drinking vodka with her friends on November 25 when they encountered the boy and his friends. She became angry when he filmed her rolling around and laughing on the floor and posted it online.
Ava demanded he delete the video from Snapchat and an argument developed which resulted in Ava being stabbed. Jurors heard how the boy ‘grinned’ as Ava lay dying, before running off to discard his coat and knife.
In a tearful victim impact statement, shop assistant Miss White said time had stood still since November 25 and she was so ‘heartbroken’ she no longer had anything to live for.
‘In November last year the light in my life was dimmed for ever,’ she said. ‘The moment Ava died is now yesterday, tomorrow and for ever, it is the past, the present and the future. My beloved Ava dies all over again every morning I wake up.’
The boy’s age and mental health issues precluded him from attending court in person. He gave evidence by video and was given a fidget spinner toy to help him concentrate.
He held his head in his hands as Miss White, who revealed she was on antidepressants and struggled to sleep because of nightmares, added: ‘Ava was my life, she was my beautiful, bubbly, outgoing, life-and-soul-of-a party little girl.’
The court heard Ava was twice rewarded for her compassion towards others by teachers at Notre Dame High School, where she was a Year 8 pupil.
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