A teenager was killed “in the blink of an eye” when he was stabbed in the neck at a New Year’s Eve event, a court has heard.
Harry Pitman, 16, was fatally attacked in Primrose Hill park, north London, just before midnight on 31 December 2023, after he gathered with friends to watch fireworks.
He was allegedly killed by 18-year-old Areece Lloyd-Hall as “revelry turned to tragedy”, prosecutor Jocelyn Ledward KC said.
Opening Lloyd-Hall’s Old Bailey retrial on Tuesday, Ms Ledward said Harry was stabbed in the neck once and “died almost immediately as a result of that single but deadly injury”.
She said Harry’s injury was caused by a knife brought to the scene by Lloyd-Hall, who was also aged 16 at the time.
Ms Ledward told the court that Harry and Lloyd-Hall did not know each other and went to Primrose Hill with separate groups of friends.
The fatal incident, which the prosecutor said happened in the space of 20 seconds, allegedly started after Harry accidentally bumped into another boy while “play-fighting” and practising high kicks.
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During the confrontation, Harry told the boy: “Don’t touch me because I didn’t touch you.”
Lloyd-Hall then approached Harry while allegedly holding his trousers and repeatedly saying “wot”, the court heard.
During the scuffle, Lloyd-Hall appeared to swing his right hand down on Harry’s shoulder, jurors were told.
In mobile phone footage shown to the court, a knife was seen glinting in the light and the sheath flying into the air, capturing the moment of the fatal stab wound.
After being stabbed, Harry pushed his way out of the crowd while covered in blood to seek help from police officers standing nearby.
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Police and paramedics gave him first aid, but the bleeding from Harry’s neck wound was “catastrophic and proved fatal”, Ms Ledward said.
Lloyd-Hall has denied murder and an alternative charge of manslaughter.
The 18-year-old, from Westminster, will say in his defence that he thought the knife was covered by a sheath when he struck Harry and that he acted in self-defence or defence of others, Mr Justice Cavanagh told jurors.
The retrial continues.
