Murder of Ava White

On 25 November 2021, 12-year-old Ava Martin White was with a group of friends aged between 11 and 15 near the Royal Court Theatre in Liverpool, waiting for the switching on of the city's Christmas lights. A separate group of boys, aged between 13 and 15, began filming the girls with the intent of sharing the footage on Snapchat. Ava asked the boys to stop filming and to delete the recording. An altercation followed in which the unarmed girls ran towards the boys, and a 14-year-old boy in the group stabbed Ava in the neck with a knife before laughing and running from the scene.

The boy and his friends fled and disposed of evidence, including a coat and knife thrown away as they ran, before entering a nearby shop to buy butter, which the boy later said was intended "to use on crumpets." The boy's mother was contacted by police shortly after the stabbing and warned her son that police were searching for him; he replied that he was "not coming home, not going the cells." Four teenage boys were arrested in Toxteth later that night.

Ava was taken to Alder Hey Children's Hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 10:16 pm. On 28 November 2021, the 14-year-old boy was charged with her murder and with carrying a blade. He was remanded into custody, and the three other boys arrested were released without charge.

At a two-week trial at Liverpool Crown Court, the boy initially denied murdering Ava, claiming another boy was responsible, before later changing his account to assert he had acted in self-defence. The court was shown CCTV footage, police-recorded interviews, and a 20-second clip depicting the stabbing. Ava's friends gave testimony. He was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 13 years. He was not publicly named for legal reasons until 2025, when he was identified as Harry Gilbertson.

Ava was killed on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and is believed to be the youngest victim of knife violence in the UK since Damilola Taylor in 2000. Following her death, Everton F.C. and Liverpool F.C. fans held a round of applause and displayed an anti-knives banner during a match on 2 December 2021. On 23 January 2022, a crowd gathered outside Anfield stadium with balloons bearing the number 13 or the letter A to sing songs in her memory.