Teen detained for murder at Primrose Hill NYE event

A teenager has been detained for at least 16 years for murdering 16-year-old Harry Pitman, who was stabbed in the neck at a New Year’s Eve fireworks event in north London.

Areece Lloyd-Hall, now 18, was convicted at the Old Bailey in October following a retrial after jurors in the first trial were unable to reach a verdict.

The fatal stabbing took place at Primrose Hill on 31 December 2023 after Harry accidentally bumped into another boy while “play-fighting” and practising high kicks, the jury previously heard.

Lloyd-Hall, from Westminster, was found guilty by a majority of 11 to one after almost eight hours of deliberation. He had already been convicted of possessing an offensive weapon.

In a televised sentencing on Monday, Mr Justice Cavanagh said Lloyd-Hall had carried a knife to feel “powerful” and out of “bravado” – and not for protection, as he had claimed in his trial.

He said Harry had been a normal “boisterous and exuberant” 16-year-old who was “full of charm”.

The judge said: “You stabbed Harry because you lost your temper with him and you acted like a big man in front of your friends.”

In that “split second”, he must have realised Harry might be killed or injured, but Mr Justice Cavanagh said: “In the moment, you did not care if he lived or died.”

The case clearly demonstrated the dangers of young people carrying knives in public and should serve as a warning and deterrent, the judge added.

Lloyd-Hall, who was 16 at the time, attacked Harry after he accidentally bumped into another boy while playfighting.

The pair, who were there separately, were part of a crowd gathered on Primrose Hill to watch fireworks over the River Thames.

Lloyd-Hall lunged at Harry with a pointed dagger, metres from where uniformed police officers were stationed.

He collapsed and died minutes later, shortly before midnight.

Lloyd-Hall claimed he thought he had only hit Harry with the sheath in an attempt to get Harry away from him.

Members of Harry’s family tearfully embraced after Lloyd-Hall was sent down from the dock.

Harry’s older sister Tayla Lohan told the court the family struggled to come to terms with the “senseless and brutal” killing.

On hearing that he had been hurt, his parents had rushed to the park to be with their son, she said.

Reading a victim impact statement, she said: “As a family we all feel guilty that year, 2023, was the first year we had not all celebrated together.

“Harry went out to celebrate with his friends and he did not come home.”

Ms Lohan said the sound of fireworks at any time of the year triggered their grief, and that it would “never be a happy New Year for our family again”.

She described her brother as bright, full of energy and a natural entrepreneur who had studied law at college and aspired to follow his great grandfather into a career in the Army.

He was also a keen Tottenham Hotspur supporter and boxing fan and was popular among his peers, she said.