A 16-year-old boy was stabbed in the neck and died “in the blink of an eye” as he enjoyed the New Year fireworks with friends on a crowded Primrose Hill, a court has heard.
Harry Pitman died “almost immediately” after he was stabbed at the popular event at the London beauty spot on December 31 2023.
Areece Lloyd-Hall, 18, is now on trial, accused of murdering Harry in the midst of a large group of fellow New Year revellers.
“Every year, large numbers of members of the public gather on Primrose Hill to celebrate the turning of the New Year”, prosecutor Jocelyn Ledward KC told the opening of the Old Bailey trial.
“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.”
Jurors heard the fatal injury was inflicted by a knife that Lloyd-Hall had brought to the scene, when he too was aged 16.
Ms Ledward told jurors that 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 that 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 “what what what what what”.
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.
Lloyd-Hall, from Westminster, denies murder and an alternative charge of manslaughter.
Mr Justice Cavanagh told jurors that this is a retrial, and Lloyd-Hall’s defence is likely to be that he thought the knife was covered by a sheaf when he struck Harry and that he acted in self-defence or defence of others.
The retrial continues.
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