Olly Stephens Murder Trial: Defence opening
The defence case for the first of two boys accused of murdering Olly Stephens in Reading earlier this year has started
Last updated 8th Jul 2021
A teenager accused of murdering a 13-year-old took a knife to “scare” him because he was afraid the boy was going to pull out a weapon during a fight, a court has heard.
Oliver Stephens, known as Olly, was killed at Bugs Bottom field in Emmer Green, Reading, Berkshire, on January 3 this year, a jury has been told.
Two boys, who are now 14, deny murder and are on trial at Reading Crown Court.
The younger of the two, who was 13 at the time, said he took a knife to the scene because the older boy told him to and that he expected the victim would have a weapon.
The jury has heard that Olly was “lured” to a park by a girl, where he was then “ambushed” by the two boys and stabbed to death.
But the younger boy has insisted he did not want to harm him, telling the court: “Obviously it wasn’t supposed to be a murder.”
Both alleged attackers were said to have had “grievances” with Olly for “snaking” them, while the girl is said to have described any violence against him as “karma” in the run-up to his death.
The girl, also 14, and the older boy have both admitted manslaughter.
None of the three can be named for legal reasons.
Evidence
Giving evidence on Thursday, the younger boy said he had approached Olly at the scene “asking him why was he saying all these things on social media, and I was telling him to say sorry”.
He said the older boy and Olly then began to fight.
He saw the victim reach for his own waistband and assumed at that moment he was going to pull out a knife, he told the court.
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”.
Defence barrister Timothy Raggatt QC asked him: “Did you mean to cause him really serious injury or worse, kill him?”
The boy replied: “No.”
He said the whole incident had lasted between 30 and 40 seconds and that he then left the scene with the older boy.
At that point he believed Olly was standing with someone.
On his way home the boy said he threw the knife into the Thames as he crossed Reading Bridge.
Asked why he did this he told the court: “Because I had just swung at someone, because there was a chance that I could’ve just stabbed someone.”
He said at that point he was not sure he had stabbed Olly.
Just before he began giving evidence, the boy admitted a charge of perverting the course of justice by disposing of clothing worn at the time of the killing.
"Sad"
Asked why he had removed and hidden his clothes, he said it was because he could have been captured on CCTV wearing them.
The boy said he heard from the older boy that the stabbing was being reported on the news, and said he felt “sad” when he heard Olly had died.
Later on the day of the stabbing, the court heard a friend had messaged the younger boy to ask if he had killed Olly and the boy replied: “It was the biggest mistake of my life.”
The boy told the court he was “angry at the whole situation because obviously that’s messed up a lot of people’s lives”.
He was asked by Mr Raggatt: “Did you ever mean any of this to happen?”
The boy replied: “No.”
The younger boy denies one other count of perverting the course of justice in relation to deleting apps from his mobile phone – a charge the older boy has admitted.
The older boy denies a charge of perverting the course of justice in relation to disposing of clothing.
The trial continues on Friday