A 15-year-old boy, who stabbed another teenager, has been found guilty of murder
A 15-year-old kid has been convicted guilty of killing another teenager by stabbing him on the way home from school. In November of last year, Alfie Lewis, 15, was fatally stabbed “in full view” by students who were leaving a primary school in Leeds’ Horsforth neighbourhood.
The 14-year-old kid acknowledged stabbing Alfie with a 13-cm kitchen knife he had brought from home, but he denied killing Alfie, saying he was afraid for his life when he took out the blade. Leeds Crown Court heard a jury comprised of five men and seven women who found him guilty of the crime on Friday.
Prosecutor Craig Hassall KC claimed during the case’s jury selection last week that Alfie was attacked by the defendant as he was leaving the school and walked down the street to meet friends.
Witnesses, he claimed, remembered Alfie asking the defendant, “What are you doing?” while appearing “surprised and shocked.” as the events of November 7, 2023, just before 3 p.m., near St. Margaret’s Primary School in Town Street, Horsforth, took place.
“Alfie did not get as far as meeting any of his friends that day,” the prosecutor stated. “(The defendant) approached him and stabbed him twice, once in the leg and once in the chest. In full front of many students leaving school and the individuals waiting to pick them up, he collapsed and passed away in the road near the elementary school.
The prosecutor stated that an analysis of the post-mortem revealed that Alfie’s fatal stab wound was a 14-cm deep gash in his chest that ruptured his heart. “(The defendant) then fled the scene, dropping the murder weapon in the road close to the primary school,” Mr. Hassall said to the jury at Leeds Crown Court. He claimed that Alfie was “not the aggressor” that day and that every witness was “consistent” in their testimony.
“A number of witnesses mention that Alfie appeared taken aback and astonished by what (the accused) was doing,” Mr. Hassall informed the court. A few of them remember hearing Alfie ask, “What are you doing?” to the defendant.
“None of the witnesses reported hearing Alfie yell or threaten the defendant.” If any of the witnesses observed Alfie interacting with the defendant in any way, they speak of his futile attempts to protect himself from the defendant’s knife.
The unnamed defendant informed the jury that he was afraid of Alfie because of two instances that had happened in the preceding months. In the latter instance, the boy said that on Halloween, Alfie told him to “give me the bag or something worse than last time is going to happen” as he was walking past his house carrying a bag of fireworks.
The unnamed defendant informed the jury that he was afraid of Alfie because of two instances that had happened in the preceding months. In the latter instance, the boy said that on Halloween, Alfie told him to “give me the bag or something worse than last time is going to happen” as he was walking past his house carrying a bag of fireworks.
The defendant said that in order to defend himself, he chose to get a knife out of the kitchen drawer when he went back to school following a half-term break. He told the jury that he swung the knife wildly to keep Alfie away during the November 7 encounter, adding, “I was just trying to protect my own life.”
