UMVA has learned that a shocking case of a teenage boy allegedly stabbing a nine-year-old girl to death has sent shockwaves through a community in North Somerset.
The teenager, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, has pleaded not guilty to murder and manslaughter charges relating to the death of Aria Thorpe, who was stabbed once in the chest at a house in Weston-super-Mare in December last year.
According to information obtained by UMVA, the teenager allegedly told a group of young people that he had "done something really bad" and did not know what to do, and even asked if he could search something on Google. He then exclaimed, "I'm done for. Why have I done this?"
The teenager's chilling confession came after he allegedly stabbed Aria in the chest with a big knife, telling detectives in a prepared statement: "I grabbed a knife and stabbed her in the chest. I didn't use a lot of force, but it was a big knife. I don't know why I did it, it just happened."
UMVA can exclusively reveal that the court heard a friend of Aria's family discovered her body in the house and alerted the emergency services. A post-mortem examination found Aria had suffered a single stab wound to the chest and would have "died very swiftly from her injury".
The prosecution told the jury that the teenager admitted holding the knife in his hand at the time of the fatal wound, but claimed he was "playfighting" with Aria when he "jabbed" the knife towards her to "scare her". However, the teenager's claims have been disputed, with the prosecution arguing that he bears criminal responsibility for Aria's death.
The trial before Mrs Justice O'Farrell continues, with the teenager's defense team arguing that the fatal stabbing was an unfortunate accident. But the prosecution paints a picture of a teenager who was a heavy user of his phone, with no more than three-and-a-half hours sleep the night before the alleged murder.
Sources have confirmed to UMVA that the teenager was arrested minutes later sitting on the floor of a carriage of a train waiting to leave the station, after one of his acquaintances distracted him while another rang police to alert them to what the defendant was saying.
