Ava White's mum says she is living a life sentence

The mother of Ava White, who was stabbed to death a year ago after a row over Snapchat, has said she feels like she is living a life sentence.

The 12-year-old was killed in Liverpool city centre after a Christmas lights switch-on in November 2021.

Speaking publicly for the first time about her daughter's death, Leanne White said that night "was just a blur".

A boy, 15, who cannot be named, was jailed for her murder in July.

He was sentenced to life with a minimum of 13 years.

The trial heard Ava and her friends had became involved in an argument with the teenager and three of his friends after the boys recorded Snapchat videos of her group.

Ava's friends said the boy, who was 14 at the time, "grinned" after stabbing her in the neck with a flick-knife before fleeing the scene.

She was taken to Alder Hey Children's Hospital with critical injuries and died a short time later.

Ms White, 39, told BBC Radio Merseyside: "We're the ones living the life sentence. It's easier for the offender to do the crime, get 13 years in jail and come out after that.

"It's us doing the life sentence, and Ava."

Recalling the night Ava was killed, she said: "I just remember getting a phone call off my sister saying Ava had been stabbed… and I can remember thinking she's made some kind of mistake… Ava won't have been stabbed.

"I went straight up to Alder Hey and then everything was just a blur."

Ms White described her daughter as "very mischievous".

"She was funny, she was a practical joker. She was always hiding behind the doors popping out when I was doing the dishes… jumping scaring me. She loved trampolining, she loved gymnastics," she said.

"She had a lot of friends. I still speak with her friends."

Ms White, along with Ava's 19-year-old sister, Mia, recently met other families who had also lost people who were stabbed.

She said: "It's devastating to meet someone who's feeling exactly the same way you're feeling, it's heartbreaking.

"And then to meet siblings… to see what they're going through.

"I see Mia go through it on a daily basis and it's just heartbreaking."

The family have set up the Ava White Foundation to raise awareness of the impact knife crime has on families.

They have been raising money for bleed control kits, which are designed to treat stab wounds, to be installed in public places and aim to distribute 50 kits across Liverpool city centre.

Mia White, who previously told the BBC, it "felt like my world crashed" when Ava was killed, said the kits were already making a difference.

She said: "[A bleed kit] got given to a college on a Monday. By Wednesday it was used on a pupil and it saved his life."

On Saturday the pair will lead a walk in Liverpool in Ava's memory.

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