A Wembley teenager accused of the gang murder of a 14-year-old boy has told jurors how he sold drugs for the Mali Gang and would carry a knife for “safety”.

Ayoub Majdouline, 19, was allegedly one of five young men who had driven around Leyton, east London, in a stolen Mercedes looking for a rival gang member to attack.

They came across the victim Jaden Moodie on a moped, selling drugs for the Beaumont Crew, also known as Let's Get Rich, the Old Bailey heard.

Jurors have seen graphic CCTV of Jaden being knocked off the scooter and stabbed to death on the ground on the evening of January 8.

The day before, Majdouline was caught on CCTV at a Travelodge Hotel in Walthamstow, with distinctive Nike Air Max trainers he was allegedly to wear during the knife attack on Jaden, the court has heard.

It is alleged he was also wearing yellow rubber gloves, one of which was later found to have traces of the victim's blood and the defendant's DNA.

Jurors were told how Majdouline had a troubled upbringing in Leyton and had turned to drug dealing for older boys to make money.

The court heard how his Irish mother and Moroccan father split up when he was aged seven.

After his father died in 2015, Majdouline went to live with an aunt and later went into foster care.

The court heard he was identified by the National Crime Agency as a victim of "modern slavery", amid concerns of exploitation by older youths.

Giving evidence, Majdouline told jurors how he sold drugs "for and with" the Mali Boys gang, including county lines in Basingstoke, Ipswich and Andover.

He had been caught with drugs and carrying knives, but despite serving time behind bars, went straight back to dealing.

He said: "At the time I did not feel like I was being supported by social services and I never lived by myself before.

"I was not getting really any money from social services - £50 a week - and I did not really know how to spend money because I had never lived by myself before.

"Just two or three days I would run out of money and I did not have money to buy food.

"Everyone in Leyton that I knew was selling drugs to make money so I just thought ... to survive."

When he turned 18, Majdouline said he got "confused" sorting out jobseekers' allowance and after a few weeks of volunteer work, he returned to drug dealing,

"I felt I had to make money the only way I knew how to make money," he said.

Majdouline, who is white, said the majority of the older Mali boys were Somali, but "black boys, Asian boys and white boys" sold drugs for them.

He explained why he had been given a knife to carry while dealing, saying he had been "sliced" on one occasion in Basingstoke.

"Because I was selling drugs for this older guy in Leyton and obviously when I was selling drugs, a lot of people I was selling drugs to were older than me.

"He didn't want me to get robbed or lose his drugs so he gave me a knife so basically to hold a knife to sell drugs for my own safety," he said.

The defendant denies murder and the trial continues.