A teenager has been found guilty of fatally stabbing 16-year-old Harry Pitman during a fireworks display on New Year's Eve.
Pitman, described as “lively and boisterous”, fought before he was attacked by Aris Lloyd-Hall in Primrose Hill, north London, on December 31, 2023.
The incident took place in front of a crowd of revelers gathered to watch fireworks over the Thames.
Lloyd-Hall, now 18, moved forward and lunged at Harry with a sharpened dagger just meters away from where uniformed police officers were standing.
“Shocking” mobile phone footage taken in court shows a knife sheath flying through the air during the fast-paced incident.
Harry holds his neck, his white T-shirt covered in blood, as he pushes through the crowd, calling out to the police for “help.”
He lost consciousness and died a few minutes later, shortly before midnight.
The Lloyd Hall College student, who was 16 at the time, claimed that he believed he only stabbed Harry in an attempt to get Harry away from him.
The incident took place in front of a crowd of revelers gathered to watch fireworks over the River Thames (Pennsylvania).
He said: “I didn’t want him to die.
“I feel terrible about what I did. It was not my intention.”
He said he ran away without realizing what happened because he was holding a knife and knew police were nearby.
The jury was told Lloyd-Hall suffered from cannabis-induced paranoia and may have suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder caused by witnessing the aftermath of a previous stabbing and the loss of a friend to a knife crime in June 2023.
Following a retrial at the Old Bailey, Lloyd-Hall, of Westminster, was found guilty of murder by a majority of 11 to one after the jury deliberated for nearly eight hours.
At his trial in October last year, a jury found Lloyd-Hall guilty of possessing an offensive weapon but disagreed on the other charges, it can now be revealed.
Harry's family gasped as they sat in court as Lloyd-Hall was found guilty of murder.
The teenager will be sentenced at the Old Bailey on November 10.
At the retrial, prosecutor Jocelyn Ledward K.S. described how “revelry turned to tragedy overnight” on New Year's Eve 2023.
Harry and Lloyd-Hall were strangers to each other and went to watch the fireworks with different groups of friends.
Earlier in the evening, Special Constable David Smith said Harry appeared agitated and “physically jumped up” to him to engage in friendly conversation.
Aris Lloyd-Hall will be sentenced at the Old Bailey on November 10 (PA)
He then “punched” another man who had gone to watch the fireworks with his family.
The fatal incident appears to have been caused by a fight between Harry and one of the accused's friends shortly after 11.30pm.
While playing fight, Harry lost his balance while watching how high he could kick and crashed into a boy standing behind him.
In response, Harry was pushed and hit on the back of the head, causing him to say: “Don't touch me, because I didn't touch you.”
Lloyd-Hall walked up to Harry, holding him by the trousers and saying:
The cellphone footage shows the girl warning “mindy”, the Somali word for knife, as the accused pulls a blade from his waistband.
Harry can be seen throwing a punch before Lloyd-Hall swings the knife upward in an arc and down onto Harry's neck.
Police body camera footage shows Harry moving through the crowd looking for help before collapsing.
The defendant fled, leaving behind the knife, clothes and mobile phone.
The sheath of the knife was left at the scene and the accused's DNA was found on it.
Following a media appeal, Lloyd-Hall went to Hammersmith Police Station with his father on January 4, 2024.
The court was told the accused had no previous convictions and had been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
