Teen accused of murder says he stabbed Amen Teklay with sword to protect friend

A teenager accused of murdering a 15-year-old boy claimed he struck him with a sword as he thought he was going to stab his friend.

The 16-year-old and his 17-year-old co-defendant are accused of murdering Amen Teklay in the St George’s Cross area of Glasgow on March 5, 2025.

Prosecutors claim the boys – who cannot be identified due to their age – brandished a sword and a frying pan at Amen while both masked.

It is said that Amen, who lived in Glasgow with his father, but was originally from Eritrea, was chased.

The charge states that he was struck with the sword and left so severely hurt that he died on Clarendon Street.

A special defence of self-defence has been lodged by the 16-year-old boy on trial.

The boy told jurors that he first encountered Amen at Kelvinhall subway station in the summer of 2024, when he was 14 years old.

The boy claimed that Amen and others robbed him of cannabis, which he was supposed to be selling to a female at the station.

Jurors heard that this started a “feud” between Amen’s group and the 16-year-old’s friends until the day of the alleged murder.

This included physical violence and the brandishing of knives. Footage of some of the incidents has previously been shown to the jurors.

The boy told the court that he purchased the alleged murder weapon – a red-bladed “sword” – online in January 2025 for £40.

He admitted to hiding the blade under post boxes at his home, which he would take back out and put in his trousers when leaving his block of flats.

The boy’s defence KC, Brian McConnachie, also referred the boy to three social media videos shown to the jury of him holding the knife, taken two and three days before the murder.

The boy stated that he was “trying to build a persona” and added: “It was ridiculous, I was 14 – I didn’t know. I look back now, and I was very stupid. I don’t know why I did that stuff.”

The court heard that on the night of the alleged murder, the two teens on trial had been at football pitches in the city’s Maryhill with friends.

He claimed that he received a phone call from one of the rival group, telling him that Amen was in the area with a knife looking for him and his friend.

The boy stated that he ended up alone with his 17-year-old co-accused on Clarendon Street that night.

When asked if the 17-year-old knew who Amen was, the boy replied: “I don’t think he met him personally, but knew of him.”

It was claimed that it was the 17-year-old who was the person to notice Amen, who was stated to have “jumped out” from behind a parked car with a knife.

The boy stated that he took out his knife, and both of them were “swinging them at each other, circling each other”.

It was claimed that the 17-year-old was “a bit back” from them, holding a frying pan.

Amen was stated to have called the 16-year-old boy a “p***y” and asked: “What are you on, what are you saying?”

The boy claimed that he replied: “It’s Ramadan, we don’t need to do this.”

He added that Amen initially had his knife on his shoulder before both boys brought down their blades.

The boy claimed that Amen then noticed the 17-year-old behind him with the frying pan.

He stated that Amen “ran around” him, “fast” towards the 17-year-old, then lifted the knife back up again.

The boy added: “I don’t know if Amen had [the knife] on his shoulder. Amen was going to the 17-year-old as if he was going to do something. I thought he was going to stab the 17-year-old.

“Amen went towards him saying ‘what you on, what you saying’ and the 17-year-old lifted the frying pan.

“I said that he didn’t have a knife and that Amen didn’t know him.

“The 17-year-old went back a bit.”

The boy then claimed he told Amen: “He has nothing to do with this.”

He added: “Amen turned 180 degrees towards me. He obviously had the knife up as he was chasing the 17-year-old. He did a 180 towards me. He had the knife still up.

“I took my knife, and I stabbed him.”

Mr McConnachie asked the boy if he knew he struck Amen, and he replied: “I knew I struck him, but didn’t know where I struck him. He did a 180 quite quickly, and I just stabbed him.”

The boy described Amen running away and seeing “a lot of blood”.

He added: “It just went all over me – on my jumper and my face.”

The boy stated that he got rid of his blood-stained jogging bottoms and threw them over a wall.

He recalled he was “panicking and just scared ” as well as “running about” at the scene.

He added: “I froze, the knife fell out of my hand and I just ran, I saw the 17-year-old running, but I left the knife.

“I went back and took the knife and put it in the sheath. I was running up and down.”

When asked if he was aware that Amen had collapsed on Clarendon Street, the boy replied: “No.”

The boy stated that he drove his e-scooter to Kelvingrove Park and kicked the knife near to a river.

He claimed that he went home and told his parents that he loved them before he headed to the city centre’s Four Corners area.

It was there that he stated that he phoned a taxi back home.

Jurors heard previously that the boy searched up Amen and the incident on the internet the day after.

The boy said: “I knew he was badly injured. I had no idea that he died.”