Teen found not guilty of murder and manslaughter of nine-year-old Aria Thorpe

A teenager has been acquitted of manslaughter and the murder of nine-year-old Aria Thorpe.

The 16-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was cleared of both charges by a jury at Bristol Crown Court on Thursday.

Aria died from a fatal stab wound to the chest at her home in Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset, on December 15 last year.

Following the incident, the boy left his home and later told a group of children at a nearby train station that his death was an “accident”.

He later told the jury at Bristol Crown Court that he grabbed a knife from the kitchen of Aria’s home and went into the lounge where she was sitting on the sofa to “scare” her.

The boy showed off moving the blade ninja style before stabbing it towards Aria as if he were fencing. He said the knife accidentally stuck into Aria, causing fatal injuries.

Jurors returned not guilty verdicts on both charges. After returning, several members of the public gallery quietly left the courtroom.

During the hearing, the boy said he wanted to “scare” Aria and grabbed the 21cm knife from next to the kitchen sink before walking into the living room.

He told the jury: “Aria stood up and I was waving around the knife.

“Then at some point I decided I was going to try and scare him to get a reaction.

“I leaned forward, pretending to fence.”

The defendant said he was in front of Aria at the time.

“He almost took a step forward, but before he took a step forward because before he could, everything happened,” he said.

I don’t know what you’re doing.

“The knife stuck in him. Then I pulled it out. I didn’t know what to do. He put his hand on his chest.”

The boy said Aria then fell to the ground.

“I thought you were dead,” he told the court.

“I was scared, I panicked. I ran into the kitchen with the knife in my hand and put it back in the sink.”

After Aria was injured, she did not check on him, alert neighbors or call an ambulance.

The boy walked to Worle railway station, where he told a group of children that he had accidentally killed Aria.

It was learned that his mobile phone had previously been confiscated by his mother and that a child at the station had borrowed his phone.

Then he searched for “What happens if you kill…”

A girl at the train station called 999 to report what the boy had said, and police immediately intervened.

The boy boarded a train that police prevented from leaving the station. He was later arrested.

When asked how he felt about what happened at the time, the boy replied: “I felt very bad.”

Home Office pathologist Dr Amanda Jeffery found Aria died from a single stab wound to the heart.

Dr Jeffery told the jury Aria would have died “very quickly” from the 7.5 to 8cm deep injury.

Aria went to school the day she died and was picked up from an after-school dance class by her mother, Tori Hull, around 4:30 p.m.

They went shopping for the mini pizzas and sauces they made together. Ms. Hull left shortly after for the evening shift, and Aria watched YouTube videos on the television.

Family friend Ollie Sheppard, who was staying at the house temporarily, returned home after work around 6 p.m.

He found Aria on the living room floor and called 999, where police and paramedics arrived a short time later.

Tragically, Aria could not be saved and was pronounced dead at 6.58pm.

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