A MAN fatally stabbed a teenage boy through the heart using a knife that he bought with a DVD that taught him to "do tricks" with it.

Aaron Roche lunged at Dele Little three times, once piercing the youngster's chest with the 9cm blade - described in a court as "specifically designed for the purpose of stabbing people" - as the pair fought outside a Hampshire doctors' and dentist's surgery.

Roche was then set upon by Dele's friends, who severely beat him while the youngster collapsed to the pavement, bleeding heavily from his chest.

Dele died just over an hour after the knifing, after being rushed to Southampton General Hospital by paramedics.

Roche, then 20, had run to the West Totton Centre after hearing that his girlfriend Kayleigh Shinn had been hurt and repeatedly pushed to the floor by youths.

Miss Shinn - known as "La" to her friends - had gone to Tesco Express with her 17-year-old friend, who cannot be named for legal reasons, to buy cigarettes just before 9pm on Saturday, February 3 this year. The pair had spent the afternoon drinking WKD, Malibu and Jack Daniels in The Ship pub in Rumbridge Street, Totton, before making the short journey to the store from a nearby house.

Winchester Crown Court heard how when the girls left the shop they were verbally abused by a gang of up to 15 youths - mainly boys - who had congregated in a nearby circular area known locally as the "bull ring".

Jurors heard how 6ft Dele was a "ringleader" in the group who were shouting and swearing and calling both girls "goths" before Miss Shinn was thrown "like a frisbee in the air" on to the ground.

Jurors heard how the 17-year-old girl sent text messages saying "help" and "La's been hurt" and minutes later Roche happened to call her mobile and she told him what was happening.

The court heard how Roche ran to the centre where he was heard shouting that he was going to "stab and kill'' Dele - a boy he had never met before - but the 15-year-old former Testwood School pupil had already walked away with friends towards Asda.

Mr Parker said: "Aaron Roche reached the car park and he was incensed. He had never met Dele Little and didn't know who he was. He was demanding that his girlfriend Kayleigh point out who had been abusing her. He was shouting. At the beginning he would not calm down and said he was going to stab him. Nobody was to know he had a knife until it was much too late."

The court heard how Roche began to calm down and started to walk away with Miss Shinn when Dele returned with two or three friends.

Prosecuting, Christopher Parker QC said: "Despite the age difference Dele Little was remarkably bigger and stronger than the older Aaron Roche. Dele Little was quite happy to have a fight with Aaron Roche. Without any hesitation Dele Little approached the defendant and either punched him or headbutted him."

Mr Parker told how Roche's hooded top was pulled over his head and he was punched and kicked.

"At that point, without any warning, Aaron Roche took the knife from his back pocket, he opened it and he stabbed Dele Little to the heart. There is some evidence that he may have tried to do so more than once.

"As soon as he produced the knife, friends of Dele Little set upon him. He was thoroughly beaten at the scene before they tended to Dele and he made his escape on foot," said Mr Parker.

He added that Dele had been the "aggressor" in the fight but Roche "went too far" by using the knife "designed specifically for the purpose of stabbing people".

Jurors were told how police were called and arrested Roche at a nearby house about 9.15pm - around 15 minutes after the stabbing. He was questioned for three days by detectives during which he said he had produced the knife to frighten the youths and used it to defend himself.

He said he had been shaking so much that he had had to use both hands to open the "butterfly" style knife that is encased.

Mr Parker said Roche had told police that if he had stabbed Dele it had been "an accident" and that he had not intended to cause harm.

The court heard how Dele had consumed an amount of alcohol just short of what would be the legal driving limit and Roche was not intoxicated on the night.

Mr Parker told the court the incident had been "a fight between two people" until "the point at which Roache used his knife" and then been severely beaten before escaping to a house where he arrived "a bloody mess".

He said that during the court case, which is expected to last several weeks, jurors would hear how an eye witness watched Roche lunge at Dele three times and how the knife was kicked out of Roche's hand to the ground from where it was later seized by police.

Roche, of Ringwood Road, Lyndhurst, denies a charge of murder.

Proceeding