Harry Pitman murder accused retrial starts at Old Bailey

A 16-year-old boy was killed “in the blink of an eye” when he was stabbed once in the neck at a crowded New Year’s Eve event in north London, a court has heard.

Harry Pitman was allegedly attacked by Areece Lloyd-Hall, 18, in front of revellers who had gathered on London’s Primrose Hill to watch fireworks over the River Thames on 31 December 2023.

Mr Lloyd-Hall, from Westminster, is charged with murder and an alternative charge of manslaughter, which he denies.

Opening his Old Bailey retrial on Tuesday, prosecutor Jocelyn Ledward KC told the court that Harry “died almost immediately as a result of that single but deadly injury”.

The prosecutor added: “Every year, large numbers of members of the public gather on Primrose Hill to celebrate the turning of the New Year.

“But on New Year’s Eve, 31 December 2023, revelry turned to tragedy in the blink of an eye.”

Ms Ledward told jurors that Harry and Lloyd-Hall were strangers to each other and had gone to Primrose Hill with separate groups of friends.

The fatal incident allegedly took place after Harry accidentally bumped into another boy while “play-fighting” and practising high kicks.

During the confrontation, Harry told the boy: “Don’t touch me because I didn’t touch you.”

The jury was shown mobile phone footage of the events, which happened in the space of 20 seconds.

Amid a scuffle between the defendant and the victim, Mr Lloyd-Hall appeared to swing his right hand down on Harry’s shoulder, the court was told.

A knife glinted in the light and the sheath flew off into the air, capturing the moment of the fatal stab wound.

Just before, a female voice was heard to shout “mindi” – the Somali word for knife.

After being stabbed, Harry pushed his way out of the crowd towards police officers standing nearby, his T-shirt covered in blood.

Police and paramedics administered first aid but the bleeding from Harry’s neck wound was “catastrophic and proved fatal”, Ms Ledward said.

Describing Harry’s demeanor on the evening he was killed, Ms Ledward told the court he had chatted with a special constable and had a friendly conversation with another fireworks spectator.

When one of his friends became involved in an altercation, Harry was seen on police body-worn video trying to calm him down, jurors heard.

He went on to engage in a friendly conversation with a man watching the fireworks and gave him a “fist bump”, the court was told.

Mr Justice Cavanagh told jurors his client’s defence case would be 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.

The retrial continues.