Worried about his mental health

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My DS17 gave a witness statement about 18 months ago (aged 15 at the time) after a very serious allegation was made against his friend. DS not present at time of alleged incident.

We heard nothing more and thought/hoped the case was being dropped.

DS has now had a letter advising the case is going to trial (unless friend pleads guilty).

I am so concerned about my DS' mental health.

He really struggled at the time of the alleged incident, and a lot since. I ended up signed off work myself because I was so worried about him. I posted on here a few months back because i thought he had considered an overdose while drunk. He insists not. He has just finished some counselling and seemed to have turned a bit of a corner.

Now this letter.

He isn't really talking about it, and I think he is burying his head. He's never told us what he said in his statement and says he can't even remember now.

I can't bear to see him so worried, upset and angry again.

How do I support him through this, and if it starts to negatively impact his mental health, will he still really need to take the stand?

Thanks.

Was the statement in defence of his friend?

I really don't know. And I know that is awful.

We didn't want to push him to discuss it, and he didn't want us there when talking to the police. We just said he must tell the truth about anything his friend told him. We know he didn't think his friend did it, but it's also not as straight forward as that.

I'm equally terrified that he has said something incriminating, possibly without even realising, and his friends will blame him if the friend is found guilty, and terrified that he will be made a target if the friend is found innocent, as he was previously being messaged and called names as a result of being in contact with the friend.