A 16-year-old boy accused of murdering a nine-year-old girl in Weston-super-Mare allegedly told a peer that he had killed someone, a court has heard. The teenager, who cannot be named, is charged with killing Aria Thorpe on December 15, 2025. She died from a single stab wound to her lung and heart.
Incident at Train Station
Bristol Crown Court heard that the teen told a group he was "playing around" with Aria when he "accidentally stabbed her with a really big knife." He claimed he expected the girl to flinch when he jabbed the knife toward her in an attempt to frighten her.
Jurors were shown footage from a nearby railway station, where the defendant appeared to be talking to a group of young people he knew from school. "You'll see it on the news later," he told them. "I was playing around with a knife. (She) walked into the knife. I accidentally stabbed her with a really big knife." He added to one peer: "Yo (name) I'm a murderer. I accidentally killed someone."
Arrest and Police Statement
One of the group called police while another distracted the teen. He was arrested minutes later as he sat on the floor of a train carriage waiting to leave the station. In a prepared statement, the boy told police: "I grabbed a knife and stabbed her in the chest. I didn't use a lot of force, but it was a big knife. I don't know why I did it, it just happened. I walked over and stabbed her. She fell to the floor. I left and went to the train station to get a train and to get away."
Witness Testimony
Ollie Sheppard, a family friend staying at the home, testified that he initially thought Aria was "messing around" when he found her lying face down on the floor after the stabbing. He returned home at around 6pm and entered through the rear door. He noted the house "felt cold" and was silent, with a kitchen drawer wide open. He found Aria in the hallway and called her mother, who did not answer, then dialed 999.
A post-mortem examination revealed that Aria suffered a single stab wound to the chest and would have "died very swiftly from her injury." The teenager denies charges of murder and manslaughter, and the trial continues.
