Billy Ripley died soon after the knife fight in Hailsham last summer.
The 20-year-old’s single wound was not survivable, a jury at Lewes Crown Court was told earlier this month.
The 17-year-old boy, who denies murder, said he froze when he saw Billy Ripley confront him with a huge knife in August 2024.
The teen who denies the charge, told the jury at Lewes Crown Court that Ripley stabbed him twice in the arm and that he tried again but the boy had “jumped back”.
He said: “He tried to stab me again.
“I fell over.
“I caught myself with my left hand. He came back towards me.
“I had raised my hand. He hit me on my hand.
“Then I stabbed him once in the torso because I thought he was going to kill me.
“To defend myself. At the time I stabbed him, he was coming towards me.”
The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the jury that he froze when he saw Ripley coming towards him and “pull a machete” out of his waistband.
“I was shocked. I put my hand on my knife,” the boy said.
“At first I was just clutching at it to show him I had a knife on me.
“I was shocked, confused and I wanted to deter him.
“He carried on walking towards me.
“I had to make a decision in the click of a finger. I further pulled my knife out of my waistband.
“He was still walking towards me. I thought if I pull my knife out, he may put his away and not attacked me.
“I was shocked, I didn’t know what to do. I just froze.
“Then he tried to stab me. His knife was bigger than my arm, it was huge.
“I thought he was going to kill me. If he stabbed me with a knife like that, it would’ve killed me.”
Asked if he had any issues with Ripley, he said: “No.
“Sometimes he would post pictures on Instagram with large knives.
“I believe he had stabbed somebody in Eastbourne.”
The 17-year old has admitted regularly carrying a knife and told the court he did not feel safe without one.
The boy told the jury he saw Mr Ripley with a knife and thought he was going to be killed and said he thought he had to defend himself.
“Of course, that’s what anyone would be thinking,” he told the jury.
“I thought I was going to lose my life or be seriously injured, so I went towards him.
“I was defending myself. I would’ve died or something bad would’ve happened to me.”
Asked by defence barrister Keir Monteith KC if he thought he had killed Mr Ripley, the boy said: “No.
“I don’t have any issues with him and I don’t know what issues he might have had with me.”
He admitted carrying the knife after a number of incidents with other boys.
Wearing a black short sleeved shirt, black tie and black trousers, the boy said he regretted ever carrying a knife.
“I thought I had to carry a knife for my own protection. It was stupid.
“I shouldn’t have started carrying knives because look at sadly what’s happened.
“I felt I had to carry a knife.
“I thought I was going to get stabbed, attacked, and there was a high chance I could have died.
“I was going to use it as a deterrent,” he told the jury.
The 17-year-old denies murdering Billy Ripley in Hailsham on August 29 last year.
The trial at Lewes Crown Court continues.
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