A DEFENDANT in the Ben Hitchcock murder trial says he lied to police about his whereabouts on the night of the teenager's death because he was “scared and panicked”.

Mitchell Elliott, aged 19, of Howerd Way, Woolwich, spoke from the witness box at the Old Bailey this afternoon.

Prosecutor Edward Brown asked him why he told police he was not in Southend Road, Beckenham, on the day Ben was killed, but later claimed he was attacked by a group of youths in the area.

Elliott, who denies murder, replied: “I was scared and I panicked. I didn't know what to say and I didn't want to put myself at the scene.

“It just came out of the top of my head. I just didn't want them to think that I was involved, because I wasn't involved.”

Elliott told the court he was attacked by a group of teenagers when walking to a party on the evening Ben was killed on June 23, 2007.

He said this was how he sustained a knife injury to his arm.

He said: “I saw a group of boys walking towards me and then one of them lunged at me.

“He had a shiny object in his hand but I didn't know what it was.

“I didn't realise until afterwards that it was a knife and that I was hurt. My clothes were all covered in blood.”

The court had earlier heard from a character witness for another defendant – 18-year-old Andre Lawrence-Bennett, of Brownhill Road, Catford, who also denies murder.

Reverend Carol Bostridge is a vicar at Crofton Park Baptist Church which Lawrence-Bennett regularly attends with his grandparents.

She said: “He is responsible, he is calm, he is polite and he mixes with a variety of young and old people.

“All in all he is a very pleasant young man.”

Ben, of Blean Grove, Penge, was stabbed during a fight after he and friends from the Penge Block gang tried to gatecrash a party attended by rival Lewisham gang members.

The 16-year-old's kidney was punctured when he was stabbed in the back in Southend Road, Beckenham. He died in hospital early the next morning.

Royston Thomas, aged 19, of Hazel Grove, Sydenham, also denies murder.

This morning he was declared unfit to continue with the trial. He has been bailed to face trial again on November 16.

Olatunji Olulu, aged 18, of Firhill Road, Catford, who was also charged with Ben's murder, was acquitted last week due to a lack of evidence.

The trial continues.