Boy, 17, guilty of murdering girl he had stalked

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A 17-year-old boy who stabbed a 15-year-old girl to death in the street after stalking her has been convicted of murder.

Holly Newton suffered 36 injuries in the attack down an alley in Hexham, Northumberland, in January 2023, when she was attacked by the boy, whom she knew.

The killer, then aged 16 and who cannot be identified because of his age, also stabbed a boy until he was stopped by members of the public who intervened.

Holly’s mother, Micala Trussler, had been so concerned that morning she contacted police about the boy, and it was agreed Holly should not leave school if the youth was outside, jurors at Newcastle Crown Court were told.

The defendant, who has mental health issues, admitted manslaughter but denied murder, claiming his mind went blank that day and that he had only intended to take his own life.

The prosecution said he had followed Holly around the town centre for about 45 minutes as she visited shops with friends, after the group had finished school for the day.

Holly had told a friend just hours before he stabbed her that the youth was “basically stalking her”, jurors heard.

The boy asked to speak to her when he saw her outside a pizza shop, lured her down an alleyway, then attacked her with a knife he was carrying.

The defendant also narrowly avoided killing the teenage boy who had been with Holly that day, and who tried to step in to save her.

Jurors were sent out to start deliberations on Tuesday and Mr Justice Hilliard thanked the panel for their careful deliberations.

He will pass sentence on the teenager on October 31 and November 1.

The defendant, watching proceedings from a secure unit via videolink, did not visibly react when the foreman gave guilty verdicts for the counts of murder and wounding with intent.

In an unusual step, the judge invited Ms Trussler to pay tribute to Holly before the jury dispersed, so they had a better picture of the kind of girl she was.

Mr Justice Hilliard said: “The focus has been about the defendant in this trial and you have only heard his view of Holly.

“Before you depart, I wanted you to have a more complete understanding of her and what she was like.”

Ms Trussler, from Haltwhistle, Northumberland, stepped out of the public gallery and described how her “beautiful child” loved her family, sport, animals and dancing.

She said: “She grew into a happy teenager who would do anything for anyone.”

She added: “At school Holly was a quiet student who just got on with her work.

“There was never a bad report from her teachers.

“When Holly started at the Queen Elizabeth High School in Hexham she felt like she belonged, she had such a tight-knit group of friends who were always there for each other.”

Her cat Maxi miaowed every morning to be let into her room, Ms Trussler said.

“To this day, Maxi still does this, however Holly isn’t there to open the door,” she said.

The judge said: “It is the kind of devastation that knives leave in their wake when people carry them and use them.”

Outside court, Lynsey Colling, head of the Crown Court unit for CPS North East, said: “The killing of Holly Newton has been utterly devastating for her family and our focus throughout this case has been to ensure that the person responsible was brought to justice for his actions.

“A significant challenge for us in the early stages of the case was to establish the defendant’s fitness to plead, which had been raised as an issue by the defence.

“The Crown instructed specialist psychologists, whose independent assessments persuaded the court that the defendant did, in fact, have the capacity to enter pleas and to stand trial for the allegations made against him.”