A friend of Girl Scout Jodie Chesney has described the “panic and hysteria” which broke out when she was fatally stabbed in a Harold Hill park earlier this year.

Jodie, 17, was with a group of friends when she was attacked in Amy's Park on March 1.

Kasey Henderson told jurors it all happened "very fast" and was "completely unexpected".

The 18-year-old had gone to the park after bumping into his twin brother Bryce, Jodie, and her boyfriend Eddie Coyle at Romford Station.

Mr Henderson said: "We were planning on picking up cannabis from someone and smoking it at the park.

"That's about it. Bryce called one of our dealers and they were going to deliver it to the park."

Mr Henderson thought two males who entered the park had stolen his bag when Jodie was knifed in the back, the Old Bailey heard.

He said: "I first fully became aware of them when I heard a noise and they were running away.

"It sounded like ripping of fabric and I thought I had heard a piece of metal or something. I was not sure what it was. I thought it was my bag strap getting caught on the bench."

"I assumed they were picking up the bag on the bench."

Prosecutor Joel Smith asked: "You thought someone had stolen your bag?"

The witness replied: "There was a moment where I moved round the table to look at the bench and my bag was still there.

"I was kind of confused and that's when a lot of the panic and hysteria started between all of us.

"Jodie screamed because of the pain and we were all confused by what was going on before we figured it out.

"I believe Ed [Coyle] said something. I cannot remember the exact words. All I know is he was telling me she had been stabbed.

"When it happened I was probably only about four or five feet away from them."

Mr Henderson said he ran to the house of his friend James Doyle to raise the alarm.

He said: "I was in shock but I knew that James's stepdad went to help but I did not feel like I could go back. I was just terrified.

"James gave me a glass of water and I stayed there but I could not really hold it because my hands were shaking."

Another friend told jurors how it was so dark when she arrived in the park, she had to use the torch on her phone to find the group.

The 17-year-old girl, who cannot be identified because of her age, said they had gathered to chat, listen to music, and smoke cannabis.

About 20 minutes after they shared a joint, the witness said she saw a girl in their group "shiver as if she had been scared".

Jodie turned around slightly and started to scream before her boyfriend Eddie said she had been stabbed, jurors heard.

The witness said: "I took my torch and shone it on Jodie's back.

"I saw a hole. You could clearly see she had been stabbed because the jacket she had been wearing had fluff on the inside. The jacket had been ripped. The fluff had originally been white and you could see blood."

The girl said two men ran away wearing thick coats, with one taller than the other.

She went on: "I got the phone and called the ambulance myself. She stopped screaming by this point and her eyes started to roll back in her head and she fell into Eddie and he had to catch her.

"He tried to keep her up and tried to keep her awake."

Alleged drug dealers Manuel Petrovic, 20, Svenson Ong-a-kwie, 19, and two youths, aged 16 and 17, from Barking and Romford, deny murder.

The trial continues.