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A teenager has been found guilty of stabbing 16-year-old Harry Pittman to death at a New Year’s Eve fireworks display.
Pitman, described as “alive and enthusiastic”, was playing before he was attacked by Eris Lloyd-Hall on Primrose Hill, north London, on December 31, 2023.
The incident occurred in front of a crowd of revelers who had gathered to watch fireworks over the River Thames.
Lloyd-Hall, now 18, stepped forward and attacked Harry with a sharp dagger, where uniformed police officers were stationed.
In “shocking” mobile phone footage played in court, a knife sheath is seen flying through the air during the speeding incident.
Harry clutches his neck, his white T-shirt soaked in blood, and he walks through the crowd pleading for “help” from the officers.
He collapsed and died a few minutes later, shortly before midnight.
College student Lloyd-Hall, who was 16 at the time, claimed that he thought he had hit Harry with the scabbard in an attempt to get Harry away from him.
“I didn’t want her to die,” he said.
“I feel terrible for what I did. It was not my intention.”
He said he didn’t realize what had happened and ran away because he had a knife in his hand and knew there were police officers nearby.
Jurors were told Lloyd-Hall was suffering from cannabis-induced paranoia and may be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder following a stabbing in June 2023 and the death of a friend in a knife crime.
Following a retrial at the Old Bailey, Lloyd-Hall, of Westminster, was found guilty of murder by a majority of 11 to 11 after the jury deliberated for almost eight hours.
At a trial in October last year, a jury found Lloyd-Hall guilty of possessing an offensive weapon but failed to agree on other charges, it can now be reported.
Harry’s family sat in the courtroom screamed as Lloyd-Hall was found guilty of murder.
The teenager will be sentenced at the Old Bailey on 10 November.
At his re-trial, prosecutor Jocelyn Ledward Casey described how “fun turned to tragedy in the blink of an eye” on New Year’s Eve 2023.
Harry and Lloyd-Hall were strangers to each other and had gone to watch the fireworks with separate groups of friends.
Earlier in the evening Special Constable David Smith said Harry seemed excited and had “physically” approached him to engage in friendly conversation.
He got “punched” by another man who had gone to watch the fireworks with his family.
The fatal incident appears to have been caused by a scuffle between Harry and a friend of the defendant shortly after 11.30pm.
During the fight, Harry lost his balance while trying to see how high he could kick and collided with the boy standing behind him.
In return, Harry was pushed and slapped on the back of the head, causing him to say: “Don’t touch me, because I didn’t touch you.”
Lloyd-Hall walked towards Harry, grabbed him by his trousers and said: “Wot, wot, wot, wot, wot.”
In the mobile phone footage, a girl warns “mindy”, the Somalian word for knife, as the defendant pulls a blade from his waistband.
Lloyd-Hall can be seen punching Harry before swinging the knife upwards in an arc and downwards at Harry’s neck.
Police body-worn camera footage shows Harry walking through the crowd asking for help before collapsing.
The defendant fled leaving behind the knife, his clothes and mobile phone.
The knife sheath was left at the scene and was found to have the defendant’s DNA on it.
Following a media appeal, Lloyd-Hall accompanied his father to Hammersmith Police Station on 4 January 2024.
The court was told that the defendant had no previous convictions and had been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.