The nine-year-old died in December last year.

15:00, Thu, Jun 25, 2026 Updated: 15:27, Thu, Jun 25, 2026

Aria Thorpe

Aria Thorpe (Image: Avon and Somerset Police / SWNS)

A teenage boy has been acquitted of the murder and manslaughter of a nine-year-old girl who died from a fatal stab wound. The 16-year-old, who cannot be identified due to his age, was cleared of both charges by a jury at Bristol Crown Court on Thursday. He had denied both charges in relation to the girl's death.

Aria Thorpe died after sustaining a knife wound to her chest at her home in Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset, on December 15 last year, a pathologist previously told the court. After the incident, the boy left Aria’s home and went to a nearby railway station – where he told a group of children that her death was an “accident”.

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He later told the jury at Bristol Crown Court that he had picked up a knife from the kitchen of Aria’s home and went into the lounge, where she was sitting on the sofa, to “scare” her.

The boy demonstrated moving the knife before jabbing it towards Aria. He said: "I was going to try and make her flinch, so I leaned forward like I was fencing."

He said the knife accidentally went into Aria, causing the fatal injury.