Teen had ‘bad thoughts’ before killing girl in Hexham

Mr Edwards asked what was going through the boy’s head.

The youth, who previously told the court he had been abused since childhood, replied “bad thoughts” and memories of “bad stuff” from his past, adding he was “confused”.

He said he then went to walk by to get to the bus station but Holly “recognised” him and, “not in a nice way”, asked him what he was doing there.

The court has heard on the morning of the day she was killed, Holly had told friends the boy was “stalking” her.

Her mother had arranged a meeting with police to raise her concerns about him, but Holly was killed hours before that took place.

Holly, who lived in Haltwhistle, had 36 injuries inflicted by a knife which broke during the attack.

The youth has told jurors he was trying to kill himself and did not mean or want to hurt Holly.

He has denied wounding another teenager boy who was stabbed while trying to stop the attack on Holly.

The trial continues.