16-Year-Old Denies Murder of 9-Year-Old Aria Thorpe as Court Hears 'Play Hunting' Claim
Updated
Updated · BBC.com · Jun 15
16-Year-Old Denies Murder of 9-Year-Old Aria Thorpe as Court Hears 'Play Hunting' Claim
3 articles · Updated · BBC.com · Jun 15
Summary
Bristol Crown Court heard the 16-year-old admitted holding a knife when 9-year-old Aria Thorpe suffered the fatal chest wound in Weston-super-Mare on 15 December.
Prosecutor Ray Tully KC said the pair were "play hunting" and the boy expected Aria to flinch when he jabbed the knife toward her to scare her.
A post-mortem found Aria died quickly from a single stab that pierced her heart and punctured a lung, with the wound requiring at least mild force.
At a nearby railway station, the jury heard, the boy told other youths he had stabbed a child, searched "What happens if you kill", then boarded a train before police arrested him.
The defendant denies murder and manslaughter; prosecutors said he later expressed regret but initially did not tell police they had been playing or that Aria walked into the knife.