A teenager has been found guilty of murder after stabbing Harry Pitman, 16, in a central London park during New Year’s Eve celebrations two years ago.
Areece Lloyd-Hall, now 18, stabbed Pitman in the neck after a fight broke out between the two strangers at a midnight gathering in Primrose Hill, a famous viewpoint for the city’s fireworks displays.
A jury in a retrial handed down a 11-1 majority verdict, convicting him of murder. He will be sentenced on 10 November.
An earlier trial had fallen apart after jurors were unable to come to an assessment on the murder charge. The jury deliberated for eight hours before returning with the guilty verdict on Wednesday.
Lloyd-Hall had pleaded not guilty to the murder charge, saying he had not intended to kill Pitman. The prosecutor Jocelyn Ledward KC had earlier told the Old Bailey how “revelry turned to tragedy in the blink of an eye” on 31 December 2023.
The court heard how the two boys had gone with their own groups of friends to the hill to watch the fireworks that evening, but 20 minutes before midnight, the boys had clashed after Pitman bumped into one of Lloyd-Hall’s friends.
Pitman had been playfighting and kicking when he lost his balance and fell into the boy behind him. That led to shoving and a confrontation, with Lloyd-Hall getting involved and threatening Pitman. Mobile phone footage shown to the court showed Lloyd-Hall pulling a knife from his waistband and swinging the knife down on to Pitman’s neck, as Pitman swung a punch.
Video footage from a police bodycam then showed Pitman stumbling through the crowd and holding his neck, seeking help from nearby police officers. He collapsed shortly after and despite first aid efforts by police died a few minutes before midnight.
Lloyd-Hall ran away from the scene after the stabbing and only turned himself in to a police station, with his father in attendance, after police released images for his search.
He said he thought he had only hit Pitman with the sheath of his blade, and it was an attempt to get away from him. “I did not want him to lose his life,” he told the court. “I feel horrible for what I caused. It was not my intention.”
The court had earlier heard Pitman described as a “lively” college student. He was one of 18 teenagers stabbed to death in London in 2023.
The Metropolitan police released a statement on Tuesday marking the tragedy.
“Harry was only 16 years old when he was stabbed. He had spent the evening with friends enjoying the fireworks before an altercation with a complete stranger led to him tragically losing his life,” said DI Daniel Catmull, from the Met’s specialist crime command.
“While justice has been served, the tragic loss of such a bright and promising young life, whose vibrant spirit touched so many, is a profound tragedy that will forever be felt by all who knew and loved him.”
