THIS WEEK IN 1991: Schoolboy, 13, almost killed his pal

Winchester Crown Court was told that the Portsmouth boy, aged 13, was at home alone with his seven-year-old playmate when he grabbed him in a stranglehold and held on as the youngster turned purple.

He then undressed the youngster and dragged his near-lifeless body onto a balcony, telling police later that he had intended ‘to get rid of the body.’

Ambulancemen – called by the teenager’s horrified sister when she got home – revived the youngster with oxygen.

The 13-year-old boy pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to assault occasioning grievous bodily harm and had been remanded for social inquiry reports.

Patrick Whelon, prosecuting, said the two boys, who could not be named because of their ages, often played together.

Mr Whelon confirmed the older boy’s sister had arrived home and found the younger boy unconscious on the balcony, after the pair had been playing a game of Ghostbusters on August 13.