Boy was 'play hunting' before fatal stabbing - court

Chloe Harcombe,West of Englandand

Andy Howard,Bristol Crown Court

A teenager accused of murdering a nine-year-old girl was playing a "hunting" game with her before she stepped into a knife, a court has heard.

The 16-year-old, who cannot be named because of his age, denies the murder and manslaughter of Aria Thorpe at a house in Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset, on 15 December last year.

On day one of the trial at Bristol Crown Court, Ray Tully KC, prosecuting, told the jury the defendant admitted "he had hold of the knife in his hand at the time the fatal wound occurred".

Tully said they were "play hunting" and the boy had expected Aria to "flinch" when he "jabbed the knife" towards her in an attempt to "scare her".

A post-mortem examination found Aria "died quickly" from a single stab that pierced through her heart and punctured her lung. The wound would have required "mild force" as a minimum, the pathologist's report said.

After Aria was injured, the teenager walked to a nearby railway station where he told young people gathered there he had stabbed a child, the jury heard.

"You'll see it on the news later," he told them.

"I was playing around with a knife. [She] walked into the knife. I accidentally stabbed her with a really big knife."

The court heard he told one of the group, who he knew: "I'm a murderer. I accidentally killed someone."

"I'm done for... why have I done this?" he said.

The jury was told he also asked to borrow a phone and searched "What happens if you kill".

While one of the group distracted the teenager, another called police and alerted them to what the defendant was saying.

The teenager boarded a train before officers arrived, but was found on the floor of the final carriage and arrested.

He later told police he regretted stabbing Aria, but the court heard he did not mention they had been playing or that she walked into the knife.

In a prepared statement to detectives, the boy said: "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.

"I walked over and stabbed her. She fell to the floor. I left and went to the train station to get a train and to get away."

"I wish I hadn't done it," he added.

At the opening of the trial earlier, the prosecution said it was a "desperately sad and upsetting" case.