Olly Stephens Trial: Two boys found GUILTY of murder
The Jury at Reading Crown Court have returned a verdict
Last updated 27th Jul 2021
Two 14-year-old boys have been found guilty of murdering Olly Stephens in Reading at the start of the year.
The verdicts came at the end of a 5 week trial at Reading Crown Court.
As Olly's dad heard the verdicts he gave out an audible sigh of relief - he was holding a sports shirt belonging to his son.
A 14-year-old girl involved in the incident had already pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
All three - who can't be named for legal reasons - will be sentenced in September.
The case
The court heard both of the male attackers had “grievances” with Olly, while the girl is said to have described any violence against him as “karma” in the run-up to his death.
The older boy was further found guilty of perverting the course of justice by disposing of the clothes he wore when the incident took place.
The attackers left Olly with stab wounds to the chest and back after a short scuffle at the scene.
The younger boy, who was 13 at the time, used a knife to stab Olly while the older boy was fighting with him, the court previously heard.
The younger boy had admitted perverting the course of justice by disposing of clothing worn at the time of the killing, while the older boy admitted the same offence for deleting information from his mobile phone.
Jurors were told they had shared several messages on Snapchat in the days leading up to Olly’s death, which demonstrated hostility towards him.
The girl said in one message to one of the defendants: “Karma – he (Olly) deserves all of this.”
The older boy also said: “I actually hate the kid with a passion – if I was to see him right now I’d probably end up killing him.”
Alison Morgan QC, prosecuting, had said Olly was “unknowingly walking into an ambush”.
Ms Morgan QC said: “(The girl) lured Olly to the location of the attack, in a place called Bugs Bottom, and she lured him to allow the attack to be carried out by the two defendants.
“The defendants were motivated by perceived grievances with Olly.”
A woman who was at the scene said in a witness statement a number of punches were thrown, although the boys acknowledged that Olly was getting the better of the fight.
During the fight the younger boy stepped in and stabbed Olly.
Afterwards the older boy messaged a friend: “Me and my boy slapped him up but my boy backed out and f** shanked him.”
The younger boy also told a female friend in a message “it was the biggest mistake of my life” and he carried out the alleged attack “out of pure anger”.
While being questioned, the younger boy said he took a knife to the scene because the older boy told him to and that he expected Olly would have a weapon.
During the fight, he said Olly reached for his own waistband and assumed at that moment he was going to pull out a knife.
The boy said he then pulled a vegetable knife – which he had taken from a bush near his house and put in his sleeve – because he thought the older boy “was going to get stabbed”.
Asked why he did this, the younger boy told the court he wanted to “scare Olly” and that he had aimed at his arm “to stop him from pulling out a knife”.
The older boy had argued he was unaware the other was bringing a knife and was shocked when the younger boy stabbed Olly.
Video Fly Through showing where it happened
The whole incident is said to have lasted between 30 and 40 seconds.
On his way home the younger boy said he threw the knife into the Thames as he crossed Reading Bridge.
Timeline
3 Jan 2021
0530 The older boy and Olly are trading insults on social media.
1216 The younger boy claims he is contacted by the older boy and told to meet him near Reading college and bring a knife with him.
1348 The older boy has a six minute voice call with the girl.
1534 Olly leaves his home near Bugs Bottom to meet the girl. She's been waiting at a bench in the beauty spot.
1544 A witness who knew Olly sees him with the girl and says he was 'smiling'.
1546 Emergency services are called.
1555 approx The younger boy goes home while the older boy meets friends in Reading town centre.
1630 approx Police arrive at the girl's home to talk to her.
1700 Olly is pronounced dead at the scene.
1722 The older boy leaves the town centre.
1800 approx The younger and older boy reunite in Palmer Park in east Reading. Clothing worn by the younger boy is disposed of. A third boy is with them.
1840 The three boys are spotted on security camera at the top of the Wokingham Road at the junction with the Wilderness Road.
1900 The group split up.
4 Jan 2021
0020 approx The older boy hands himself in to Police at Loddon Valley Police station.
0150 approx Police arrest the younger boy at his home in Reading.
On Monday afternoon, after the jury found the two boys guilty of murder after deliberating for just over 18 hours, the family said: “Today is a sad day, so many young lives and the lives of their families have been devastated by this callous and cold-hearted act. Knife crime needs to stop. Now.”.
A fresh bunch of red roses on the place where Olly died in the final few days of the trial.
I covered the trial from the start and summarised it like this:
"Olly Stephen’s left his home at around half-past three on Sunday 3 Jan this year to meet a girl friend in nearby bugs bottom - he was wearing sliders and no coat.
He’d told her he couldn’t stay long.
Twelve minutes after leaving his home that afternoon he’d been stabbed.
At the top of a gently sloping hill where a path dissects through the middle of the beauty spot he was confronted by two boys. One had a knife.
It was an ambush organised by the girl at the request of the older of the two boys.
Both boys wanted to pattern Olly - humiliate him and force him into an apology over a dispute on social media.
Olly didn’t allow that to happen and as he got the upper hand in a fight he was stabbed twice by the younger boy - once in the front and once in the back. Either wound would have been fatal.
As he staggered around - his life ebbing away - the two boys jumped on an e-scooter and left the scene.
The girl and two male friends who’d come to watch the fight left shortly afterwards.
This was a trial about children obsessed with knives, the trading of vile and violent social media insults, about immature teenage image and ego.
Olly Stephens was the ultimate victim in all this - killed over childish accusations he was a snitch."
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