A teenager accused of murdering a nine-year-old girl told a group of young people he "needed to get away" before getting on a train, a court has heard.

Aria Thorpe died of a single stab wound to her chest in her home on 15 December last year in Weston-super-Mare.

A 16-year-old boy - who cannot be named for legal reasons - is currently on trial at Bristol Crown Court accused of the murder and manslaughter of Aria, both of which he denies.

Speaking to the court on Tuesday, a witness from a group of young people he spoke to at Worle Railway Station after the stabbing claimed the defendant said he wanted to get away from "everything - police, family. Everything".

A post-mortem examination found Aria would have "died very swiftly from her injury", jurors were told.

Det Con Charlie Cook from Avon and Somerset Police told Bristol Crown Court phone records and CCTV showed the defendant walked to Worle station after the incident and spoke to "several young people" for 12 minutes in a shelter near the platform before boarding a train.

As he spoke to the group, the defendant "appeared to re-enact or show others what had happened", Cook told the court.

The defendant was later arrested on a train by officers as it was about to depart.

Recorded video interviews from the young people were played to the court on Tuesday.

One witness - who cannot be named for legal reasons - said the defendant asked the group when the next train was, and borrowed someone's phone to "search something up".

They said: "He was in a rush, he was shaking a lot and saying 'I need to get away, I need to get away'."

Asked by the witness "what are you running away from?", the defendant replied: "Everything - police, family. Everything".

He then undid his coat so they could feel his heart rate, and a member of the group called the police.

The witness added: "All he said was 'she ran into the knife'."

Another witness - who cannot be named for legal reasons - told the court in the video interview the defendant "heard sirens and said something like 'I think they're for me'."

The court also heard the man who found Aria after she had been stabbed initially thought she was "messing around".

Ollie Sheppard, who was temporarily staying at Aria's home when he found her on 15 December, told the court he called 999 and attempted CPR after realising she was face down and covered in blood.

Sheppard told jurors he entered Aria's home after finishing work just after 18:00 GMT.

Describing the house, he said: "It felt cold. Everything was silent.

"One of the kitchen drawers was wide open. I went from the kitchen into the hallway.

"I couldn't push open the door because the door to the cupboard under the stairs was open.

"I managed to push my way through. As I pushed through the door, I just walked down the hallway, and I turned round by the stairs, and I saw Aria on the floor."

Responding to prosecutor Ray Tully KC asking what his first thought was when he saw Aria on the floor, Sheppard said: "[I thought] She was messing around.

"I called her name, and pretty much I had put two and two together and I saw blood on her arm.

"She was tucked in by the door, face down. There wasn't much blood visible because of the hard flooring, the carpet was dark.

"I couldn't see any mark that stood out and as I said there was blood on her arm, and her school top was covered in blood."

Sheppard said he rang Aria's mother, who did not answer the phone because she was at work, and then called 999.

Jurors also heard from neighbour Ashley Mansell, who said he heard a male shouting at the time of the incident.

"I heard shouting, three 'no, no, nos'. It was said in a tone of disbelief. It immediately made me think it was an unusual thing to hear," he said.

"It was more like a 'can't believe it' no," he told jurors.

"A short time after my attention was drawn to blue flashing lights," he added.

The trial continues.

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