Harry Pitman was fatally stabbed in north-west London on New Year’s Eve (Picture: PA)
A teenager who murdered a 16-year-old boy at a New Year’s Eve event in north London has been sentenced to at least 16 years.
Areece Lloyd-Hall,18,was found guilty last month of the murder of Harry Pitman.
Harry was fatally stabbed in Primrose Hill just before midnight onDecember 31,2023,after meeting up with his friends to watch fireworks.
He bumped into Lloyd-Hall,who had also gone to the park to see the display over the River Thames,while play-fighting.
The attack happened on Primrose Hill,a famous viewpoint for London’s fireworks displays.(Picture: SWNS)
Lloyd-Hall,who was 16 at the time of the attack, claimed he thought he had only hit Harry with the sheath and did not intend to kill him.
The teen was suffering from cannabis-induced paranoia and may have been experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder,having lost a friend to knife crime in 2023,the court was told.
‘I did not want him to lose his life,’ Lloyd-Hall told the Old Bailey. ‘I feel horrible for what I caused. It was not my intention.’
Lloyd-Hall fled the scene and turned himself in,joined by his father,after a media appeal.
The knife scabbard,found at the scene,had the defendant’s DNA on it.
At the first trial last year,a jury found Lloyd-Hall guilty of possession of an offensive weapon but failed to agree on the murder charge.
A guilty verdict was returned for Lloyd-Hall,from Westminster,following eight hours of jury deliberation.
The judge said today that the killer’s PTSD and ADHD conditions provided some mitigation.
Justice Cavanagh said: ‘You stabbed Harry because you lost your temper with him and you acted like a big man in front of your friends.’
He added: ‘In the moment,you did not care if he lived or died.’
Lloyd-Hall will be detained in a young offenders’ institution until he is 21,when he will go to an adult prison.
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