The defendant, who has interim name suppression, is on trial in the High Court at Dunedin defending the charge of murder.
He says he was acting in self-defence when he fatally stabbed Enere Taana-Mclaren, 16, on May 23 last year.
This afternoon, the now 14-year-old gave evidence about his rough times at school.
He described being bullied since primary school and worse harassment in high school.
In August 2023, the defendant was approached by a group of boys who stole his food, beat him up and choked him until he blacked out, he said.
He remembered the boys laughing and filming the assault.
For three months after that, he became anti-social.
“I had stayed in my room, I didn’t want to go out and socialise because I was afraid that I would get smashed over and that I would get jumped,” he told the jury.
He carried a knife when he started going out again and changed his demeanor.
“I started using more slang and started walking with confidence,” he said.
“I wanted others to see me as tough so they wouldn't want to bully me or have problems with me.”
He said he would sneak any knife from his parent’s kitchen drawer.
Sometimes he would take a butter knife, and he did not usually carry the knife he used on May 23.
Counsel Anne Stevens KC opened the defence case by reminding the jury her client was presumed innocent unless the Crown proved him guilty beyond reasonable doubt.
“The defendant’s defence to the charge of murder is one of self defence, and alternatively that the defendant did not intend to kill Enere,” she said.
“He was a 13-year-old schoolboy who had been bullied and assaulted from primary school onwards and who had suffered the trauma of a violent assault.”
She said Enere showed hostility towards the defendant from the moment he stepped off the bus.
Enere was bigger, older and stronger than the defendant, she said.
“He felt he was in big trouble, he is going to be bashed,” Mrs Stevens said.
“He will describe his anxiety at that point and how adrenaline kicks in, he has to protect himself.”
Mrs Stevens would call other witnesses who had experienced Enere being violent at the bus hub on other occasions.
One man would say Enere hit him with a pair of headphones and another one says the boy punched him in the face, knocking out a tooth.
“Enere has a tendency to respond with violence to people who challenge him,” Mrs Stevens said.
She reminded the jury the defendant had been the victim of a robbery and assault in 2023, and carried a knife because he was afraid of further trouble.
On one occasion at the bus hub, showing the knife to a bully was enough to scare him away.
“Showing the knife was all it took, the safety device of carrying a knife worked for [the defendant],” Mrs Stevens said.
The trial is being presided over by Justice Robert Osborne.
The defendant is expected to continue giving evidence tomorrow.
