'Best friend' of murdered Kayden Moy tells court how he 'witnessed fatal stabbing'

Jurors have heard a teenager describe how another youth reportedly "pounced" on his best friend before stabbing him on a beach.

The 17-year-old said Kayden Moy, 16, was attacked after he slipped and fell as they tried to flee following a confrontation in North Ayrshire on 17 May 2025.

Cole Turley, 18, has admitted murdering Kayden, from East Kilbride in South Lanarkshire, who died following the incident at Irvine Beach.

Jay Stewart, 18, and a 15-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, are on trial at the High Court in Glasgow accused of murdering Kayden.

It is alleged that while acting with Turley, Stewart and his co-accused pursued Kayden, causing him to fall to the ground, and repeatedly stabbed him on the body with a knife, leaving him so badly injured that he died.

The defendants deny all charges against them and have lodged special defences of incrimination.

In a video-recorded police interview played to the jury, the witness described how he and his friends were sitting on the beach when rocks started being thrown at them from above by people he named as Stewart, the 15-year-old and others.

He said both he and Kayden went up to confront them but as they reached the top of the dune, Turley produced a knife and Stewart an extendable baton.

The witness said: "Then out of nowhere Cole just started running at us. I ran to the right, so did Kayden, I jumped over a grass ledge, Kayden slipped and Cole leaped over and jumped on him.

"He had a knife and it hit. I saw one stab."

Read more from the trial:
Teenager admits murdering 16-year-old

The teen described how he ran back to help Kayden who was standing up, and he and another friend supported him as they walked back down to the beach shouting for an ambulance.

He said: "I saw blood going down Kayden's leg and him going really white."

A nurse who happened to be on the beach assisted and he himself at one point held his friend's head, the witness said.

In the interview, recorded on 5 June 2025, one of the police officers asked what Stewart was doing with the baton at the top of the dune.

The witness replied: "Swinging it around and shouting at us and that's when Cole pounced."

Asked what the 15-year-old did, the witness said he remembered him throwing rocks but that was all.

He added: "He didn't hit anyone, he just said 'c'mon then'."

The witness said he spoke to police at the scene, and reported: "My best pal has been stabbed by Cole Turley."

Donald Findlay KC, representing Stewart, asked why the group had been at the beauty spot and whether they had been drinking.

The witness said they had gone to the beach planning to "get the tunes on and get steaming" and he himself had been drinking Buckfast, and that hundreds of young people were at the seaside that day.

Jurors also heard that earlier in the day, the witness and another boy were involved in a fight with another youth on the beach but nobody was hurt.

Detective Constable Ally Dunn, who was crime scene manager for the incident, was shown images and footage by prosecutor Liam Ewing KC.

These included images of Turley holding a knife above Kayden.

During cross-examination, Mr Findlay said: "This is a graphic image of Turley committing the crime of murder and when he did so he was alone."

He asked DC Dunn whether he agreed the image showed Turley acting alone.

The officer replied: "At that point, yes."

Stewart and the 15-year-old also deny a number of other charges.

Stewart is accused of having a baton and a knife or similar instrument, and the 15-year-old of having a knife on 17 May last year.

They are also accused of attempting to pervert the course of justice over four days between 17 and 21 May 2025 in Irvine, East Kilbride, and elsewhere.

It is alleged that they wiped a knife on the ground to remove blood, and later hid knives in a divan bed frame and a freezer.

Prosecutors also allege that they discarded their blood-stained clothes, phoned someone and asked them to retrieve and burn the clothes, and changed into alternative clothing.

They are also accused of challenging others to fight, and brandishing knives and a baton or similar instruments, at Irvine Beach on 17 May 2025.

It is also alleged that they "culpably and recklessly" threw rocks at members of the public there, placing them in danger of injury.

The trial, before Lord Scott, continues.

(c) Sky News 2026: 'Best friend' of murdered Kayden Moy tells court how he 'witnessed fatal stabbing'