Roberts Buncis murder trial: Knives found in accused's bedroom

Police found a number of knives and a hammer in the bedroom of a 14-year-old boy who is accused of killing his 12-year-old friend, a court has heard.

Roberts Buncis was found stabbed to death in woodland in the Fishtoft area of Boston on 12 December 2020.

Officers arrested the teenager at his home after finding a series of text messages between him and Roberts, a jury at Lincoln Crown Court was told.

The teenager, who cannot be named because of his age, denies murder.

In court, prosecutor Sally Hobson read out a series of agreed pieces of evidence to the jury.

Ms Hobson said the text messages showed that Roberts and the 14-year-old boy had been in contact with each other in the early hours of 12 December.

Police officers "discovered there was an arrangement to meet in a wooded area regarding a purported drug deal," she said.

They arrested the teenager on suspicion of murder at his house at about 02:15 GMT on 13 December.

The court heard the boy had sworn at officers and demanded to see a lawyer.

He was handcuffed and taken to Boston police station and later to the town's Pilgrim Hospital, where he was treated for a hand injury, the jury was told.

At the hospital, the defendant refused to tell doctors how he had been injured, but subsequently told a radiologist he had cut himself with a knife.

Ms Hobson said a search of the boy's bedroom found some small cannabis plants and a number of knives were also discovered.

"A small kitchen knife was found under the defendant's bed. A hammer was found inside a black bag in the bedroom," she said.

"There was a small kitchen knife behind the bedside cabinet. There was a home-made knife inside the bedside cabinet. There was a black-handled knife concealed within a sock in a desk in the bedroom."

A blood-stained knife was also found in the garden on which was found the DNA of both Roberts and the defendant, the court heard.

The trial is expected to continue on Monday.

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