Harry Pitman was allegedly attacked by Areece Lloyd-Hall, 18, in front of revellers who had gathered on London’s Primrose Hill to watch fireworks
A 16-year-old boy was killed “in the blink of an eye” when he was stabbed in the neck at a crowded New Year’s Eve event, a court has heard. Harry Pitman was allegedly attacked by Areece Lloyd-Hall, 18, in front of revellers who had gathered on London’s Primrose Hill to watch fireworks over the River Thames on December 31, 2023.
Opening his Old Bailey retrial on Tuesday, prosecutor Jocelyn Ledward KC said: “Every year, large numbers of members of the public gather on Primrose Hill to celebrate the turning of the new year. But on New Year’s Eve, 31 December 2023, revelry turned to tragedy in the blink of an eye.
“Harry Pitman, aged 16, was stabbed once to the neck. He died almost immediately as a result of that single but deadly injury.” She said the injury was caused by a knife brought to the scene by the defendant, Lloyd-Hall, who was also aged 16 at the time.
Ms Ledward told jurors Harry and Lloyd-Hall were strangers to each other and had gone to Primrose Hill with separate groups of friends. Before the defendant arrived, Harry had chatted with a special constable who noted he “physically bounced over” and seemed “overall positive in his attitude towards police”.
When Harry’s friend became involved in an altercation, Harry was seen on police body-worn video trying to calm him down, jurors heard. He went on to engage in a friendly conversation with a man watching the fireworks and gave him a “fist bump”, the court was told.
The fatal incident allegedly arose after Harry accidentally bumped into another boy while “play-fighting” and practising high kicks. During the confrontation, Harry told the boy: “Don’t touch me because I didn’t touch you.”
Ms Ledward showed jurors mobile phone video clips of the fast-paced events, saying the stabbing happened in the space of 20 seconds. As Lloyd-Hall approached Harry, he was allegedly holding his trousers and saying “wot wot wot wot wot”.
Amid the scuffle, Lloyd-Hall appeared to swing his right hand down on Harry’s shoulder, the court was told. A knife glinted in the light and the sheaf flew off into the air, capturing the moment of the fatal stab wound.
Just before, a female voice was heard to shout “mindi” – the Somali word for knife. After being stabbed, Harry pushed his way out of the crowd towards police officers standing nearby, his T-shirt covered in blood.
Police and paramedics administered first aid but the bleeding from Harry’s neck wound was “catastrophic and proved fatal”, Ms Ledward said. Witnesses saw the boy who had stabbed Harry leave the park immediately, the court was told.
Lloyd-Hall, from Westminster, has denied murder and an alternative charge of manslaughter. Mr Justice Cavanagh told jurors in the retrial that Lloyd-Hall’s defence would be that he thought the knife was covered by a sheath when he struck Harry and that he acted in self-defence or defence of others.
The retrial was adjourned until Wednesday.
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