He has admitted two counts of aggravated burglary.

A day after the incident, the teen witness told the court he had a phone conversation with the accused and the third boy where the pair said they “wanted to leave the state”.

“They said they were going to steal a car, go up to the Gold Coast and get a charter plane to go to Papua New Guinea,” he told the jury trial.

The witness said the pair told him about consequences he would face if he stayed, including how he was “the prime suspect” and would “go to jail for a long time”.

The boy said he had been texting other friends during the phone call, who told him to “stay and deal with the consequences”.

“Then I heard (the accused) tell me to come to them and run away with them,” he said.

The witness told the court he said “goodbye to my family” and met up with the two teens in their apartment in Melbourne’s inner-south-east just after midnight on January 15, where he alleged they “weighed up all options”, including throwing away SIM cards.

He returned home later that evening.