WESTON-SUPER-MARE — A 16-year-old boy was found not guilty of the murder and manslaughter of nine-year-old Aria Thorpe at Bristol Crown Court. Aria Thorpe died from a single stab wound to her chest on December 15, 2023, at her home in Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset.

The boy testified that he picked up a kitchen knife from Aria Thorpe's home before entering the lounge where she was watching television. "Aria stood up and I was waving around the knife," the boy told the jury. He stated that he intended to make her flinch and scare her. "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," he said. The boy added, "The knife went into her. Then I pulled it out. I didn't know what to do. She put her hand to her chest."

Mrs Justice O'Farrell, who presided over the case, stated that the boy accepted he stabbed Aria Thorpe with a kitchen knife but claimed it was an accident. "His intention was to scare her. He held the knife in hand and lurched or jabbed towards her. He didn't intend to kill her and did not intend to cause her really serious injury," Mrs Justice O'Farrell said.

The prosecution argued that the boy stabbed Aria Thorpe deliberately with the intent to kill or cause serious harm. Alternatively, the prosecution argued that the boy's action was one that any reasonable person would realize was bound to subject Aria Thorpe to the risk of physical harm. When Andrew Langdon KC, who represented the boy, asked how he felt about what had happened, the boy replied, "I felt horrible."

After injuring Aria Thorpe, the boy walked to a nearby train station, where he told a group of children that he had accidentally killed her. He borrowed a phone from one of the children and searched for "what happens if you kill." One of the children called police, and officers arrested the boy shortly after he boarded a train.