Teenager locked up for fatal knife attack on ‘charming’ boy on New Year’s Eve

A teenager has been locked up for at least 16 years for fatally stabbing a “charming” and “exuberant” 16-year-old boy in the neck at a New Year’s Eve fireworks event.

Areece Lloyd-Hall, 18, attacked Harry Pitman after he accidentally bumped into another boy while playfighting on Primrose Hill, north London, the Old Bailey had heard.

The incident happened in front of police officers and hundreds of shocked revellers gathered in the popular park to watch fireworks over the River Thames on December 31 2023.

Following two trials, Lloyd-Hall, from Westminster, was found guilty of murder and having an offensive weapon.

On Monday, he was detained at His Majesty’s pleasure for a minimum term of 16 years.

In a televised sentencing, Mr Justice Cavanagh said Harry had been a normal “boisterous and exuberant” 16-year-old who was “full of charm”.

He 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.

The judge told him: “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 judge told the defendant: “If you had not taken a knife to Primrose Hill that night, Harry Pitman would still be alive, he would have his whole life ahead of him, and his family and friends would not have been plunged into the most profound and awful grief.

“What turned it into a terrible and tragic incident was your decision, for no good reason whatsoever, to arm yourself with a knife.

“This case is the clearest possible tragic illustration of the dangers of young people carrying knives in public.

“I hope that this case will serve as a warning and as a deterrent to young people who are thinking of carrying a knife, even if they delude themselves into thinking it is useful for self-defence.

“Far too many young people have been killed or horribly injured by knife crime in our cities, and many others spend what should have been the best years of their lives in prison because of their bad choices.”

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

Earlier, Harry’s older sister Tayla Lohan told how the family struggled to come to terms with the “senseless and brutal” way he was killed.

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

Reading a victim impact statement on behalf of the family, 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, saying: “It will never be a happy New Year for our family again.”

She described Harry 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 football supporter and boxing fan and was popular among his peers, she said.

Previously, prosecutor Jocelyn Ledward KC had described how “revelry 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 different groups of friends.

Earlier in the evening, special constable David Smith said Harry seemed excitable and had “physically bounced” up to him to engage in friendly chat.

He went on to “fist bump” another man who had gone to watch the fireworks with his family.

The fatal incident appeared to have been sparked by a scuffle between Harry and one of the defendant’s friends shortly after 11.30pm.

Lloyd-hall had pushed forward and lunged at Harry with a pointed dagger, metres from where uniformed police officers were stationed.

In mobile phone footage played in court, a knife sheath was seen to fly through the air during the fast-paced incident.

Harry held his neck, his white T-shirt covered in blood, as he pushed through crowds calling to officers for “help”.

He collapsed and died minutes later, shortly before midnight.

The knife scabbard was left at the scene and was found to have the defendant’s DNA on it.

After a media appeal, Lloyd-Hall went to Hammersmith police station with his father on January 4 2024.

At his trials, college student Lloyd-Hall, who was 16 at the time, claimed he thought he had only hit Harry with the sheath in an attempt to get Harry away from him.

He said he ran off not realising what had happened because he was holding a knife and knew there were police officers nearby.

Jurors were told Lloyd-Hall had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and was suffering from cannabis-induced paranoia.

He may also have suffered post-traumatic stress disorder triggered by witnessing the aftermath of an earlier stabbing and the loss of a friend to knife crime in June 2023.

In mitigation, defence barrister David Bentley KC referred to a handwritten letter in Lloyd-Hall had said: “I’m sorry for causing this, honestly I am.”

Mr Bentley said: “He is not going to say it is not his fault. He now realises that at 16 he was a naive, immature, stubborn teenager who should have been seeking help for his problems.

“He also recognises he has not only caused terrible trauma to Harry’s family but also his family.”