Girl thought fatal chase was game of hide-and-seek

Family handout Baye Bireme Fall - a boy with short black hair, wearing a black and white striped tracksuit top, looking at the camera. He is sitting in a car.Family handout
Baye Bireme Fall died in April after an altercation near a shopping centre

A 12-year-old girl described seeing what she thought was a "game of hide and seek" moments before a 16-year-old boy was fatally stabbed at a shopping precinct.

Baye Bireme Fall, known as BB, died from a single stab wound after a confrontation near the Ortongate Shopping Centre in Peterborough on 12 April.

Emidas Krutkevicius, 18, from Garton End Road in the city, and a 15-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, are on trial at Peterborough Crown Court where they deny murder.

In a police interview played in court, the girl said she saw Baye being chased by the defendants, and added that she "had a bad feeling about them".

The witness was with two friends when she first saw Baye and the defendants, who were all dressed in black clothes and balaclavas.

She told police "we heard fighting" and "they looked angry".

"We didn't want to go past them as they seemed dangerous," the court heard her say.

The girl described seeing Baye "talking back" to the accused before being chased and hearing him screaming.

Shortly afterwards she remembered him lying on the grass, as two people tried to do CPR.

Emergency services arrived minutes later and Baye was taken to hospital where he later died, the court was told.

Shariqua Ahmed/BBC In the foreground, a police officer in a black and blue jacket has their back turned to the camera. In front of them is a residential street and some green shrubbery. Further back, behind blue and white police tape, is a small gazebo tent.Shariqua Ahmed/BBC
Prosecutors have alleged the defendants acted jointly

Prosecutor Kate Wilkinson KC previously told jurors it appeared there had been a "disagreement" between friends of Krutkevicius and Baye and the two were due to meet "to resolve the issue".

Krutkevicius and the 15-year-old were "armed with knives" in the lead up to the meeting, while Baye arrived at the shopping centre with two others.

Baye was also carrying a weapon, she said, but explained it was never "seen out of its protective sheath" and there was no scientific evidence it had been used to harm anyone.

The trial continues.

Do you have a story suggestion for Peterborough? Contact us below.

Follow Peterborough news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.