{"id":6791,"date":"2026-06-25T14:02:18","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T14:02:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/boy-16-not-guilty-of-murdering-aria-thorpe-9-who-was-knifed-in-chest-at-home\/"},"modified":"2026-06-25T14:02:18","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T14:02:18","slug":"boy-16-not-guilty-of-murdering-aria-thorpe-9-who-was-knifed-in-chest-at-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/boy-16-not-guilty-of-murdering-aria-thorpe-9-who-was-knifed-in-chest-at-home\/","title":{"rendered":"Boy, 16, not guilty of murdering Aria Thorpe, 9, who was knifed in chest at home"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"article-body\">\n<h2 class=\"LeadText_lead-text__wd_PA __className_740a06\" data-testid=\"leadtext\">A 16-year-old boy has been found not guilty of the murder and manslaughter of Aria Thorpe, nine, who was found with a knife wound to her chest at her home in Weston-super-Mare<\/h2>\n<div class=\"Byline_byline-container__K_Owl\" data-testid=\"byline\"><span class=\"Byline_byline-content-wrapper__Imque\" data-testid=\"byline-content\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"Byline_author-badge-date-wrapper__Q7jj1\">\n<p><span class=\"\" data-testid=\"byline-publishedDate\"><\/span><span class=\"ArticleTimestamp_updated-date__7qD4Q ArticleTimestamp_updated-date-with-published__iFKpF\" data-testid=\"byline-updatedDate\">Updated <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/div>\n<p><button type=\"button\" class=\"SlideViewerButton_slide-viewer-button__BDJoG\" aria-label=\"Open image viewer\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-controls=\"image-lightbox\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-embed__0T8WX ImageEmbed_image-lead__Ti3qQ\" data-testid=\"leadimage\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"37310810\">\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-container__2AIQm\">\n<figure class=\"Figure_figure__Uce4f\" style=\"--figure-aspect-ratio:1.5\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"eager\" sizes=\"(max-width: 508px) 508px, (max-width: 615px) 615px, 1200px\" src=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article37310810.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1200f\/2_Aria-Thorpe-court-case.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article37310810.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s508\/2_Aria-Thorpe-court-case.jpg 508w, https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article37310810.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s615\/2_Aria-Thorpe-court-case.jpg 615w, https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article37310810.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1200f\/2_Aria-Thorpe-court-case.jpg 1200w\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"ImageCaption_caption__j7HRu\" data-testid=\"image-caption\">\n<p aria-label=\"Aria Thorpe\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">Aria Thorpe<cite aria-label=\"Image: Family Handout\/PA Wire\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-credit__wlx1W\" data-testid=\"caption-credit\">(Image: Family Handout\/PA Wire)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<p><\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">A teenage boy has been found not guilty of the murder and manslaughter of nine-year-old Aria Thorpe, who died after being stabbed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Aria Thorpe died after sustaining a knife wound to her chest at her home in Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset, on December 15 last year. The 16-year-old, who cannot be identified due to his age, was cleared of both charges by a jury at Bristol Crown Court on Thursday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">After the incident, the boy left Aria\u2019s home and went to a nearby railway station \u2013 where he told a group of children that her death was an \u201caccident\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">He later told the jury at Bristol Crown Court that he had picked up a knife from the kitchen of Aria\u2019s home and went into the lounge, where she was sitting on the sofa, to \u201cscare\u201d her.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The boy demonstrated moving the knife in a ninja-style way before jabbing it towards Aria as if he was fencing. He said the knife accidentally went into Aria, causing the fatal injury.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Jurors returned the verdicts of not guilty to both charges. After they were returned, several members of the public gallery left the court room quietly.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">During the trial, the boy said he had wanted to \u201cscare\u201d Aria and picked up the knife, which had a 21cm blade, from near the kitchen sink before going into the lounge.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">He told the jury: \u201cAria stood up and I was waving around the knife. Then at some point I decided that I was going to try to make her flinch and scare her, to get a reaction. I leaned forward, acted like I was fencing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The defendant said Aria had been in front of him at the time. \u201cShe had almost taken a step forward but without taking a step forward because before she could, it happened,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t know what she was doing. The knife went into her. Then I pulled it out. I didn\u2019t know what to do. She put her hand to her chest.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The boy said Aria then fell to the floor on her front. \u201cI thought she had died,\u201d he told the court. \u201cI got scared, I panicked. So I ran to the kitchen with the knife and I put it back into the sink.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">He did not check on Aria after she was injured, did not raise the alarm with neighbours or ring for an ambulance. The boy walked to Worle railway station, where he told a group of children that he had killed Aria accidentally.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">His mobile phone had been previously been confiscated by his mother and he borrowed the phone of a boy at the station. He then searched for \u201cwhat happens if you kill\u2026\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">A girl at the train station rang police on 999 to report what the boy had said and police quickly attended. The boy ran onto a train, which police stopped from departing the station. He was then arrested. When asked how he was feeling about what happened at that time, the boy replied: \u201cI felt horrible\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Home Office pathologist Dr Amanda Jeffery found Aria died from a single stab wound, which went through her heart. Dr Jeffery told the jury that Aria would have died \u201cvery swiftly\u201d from the injury, which was between 7.5 and 8cm deep.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Aria attended school on the day of her death and was collected from an after-school dance class by her mother, Tori Hull, at about 4.30pm.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">They went shopping for mini-pizzas and toppings, which they made together. Ms Hull left for an evening work shift shortly after, with Aria watching <a target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/all-about\/youtube\" rel=\"follow\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"\">YouTube<\/a> videos on the television.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Family friend Ollie Sheppard, who was staying temporarily at the house, returned there after work at about 6pm. He found Aria on the floor of the living room and rang 999, with police and paramedics arriving a short time later. Tragically, Aria could not be saved and was pronounced dead at 6.58pm.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/news\/uk-news\/aria-thorpe-murder-trial-verdict-37348304\" target=\"_blank\">Source link<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A 16-year-old boy has been found not guilty of the murder and manslaughter of Aria<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6792,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6791","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2_Aria-Thorpe-court-case.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6791","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6791"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6791\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6792"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}