Teen 'who stabbed Olly Stephens, 13, to death' had been carrying knife to 'scare teen before fight'

A TEENAGER accused of stabbing a 13-year-old boy to death was carrying a knife to "scare" him, a court heard.

Olly Stephens had walked to a field near his home on January 3 in sliders where he thought he was meeting a 13-year-old girl – but instead was brutally attacked. 

The ambush left student Olly dying in Bugs Bottom, Emmer Green, Reading.

Paramedics raced to the remote spot and gave the teen CPR – but he was declared dead at the scene at 5pm.

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 he thought Olly would have a weapon.

Giving evidence today, the boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, insisted he didn't want to harm Olly – or kill him.

"Obviously it wasn't supposed to be a murder," he told the court.

Both alleged attackers were said to have had "grievances" with Olly for "snaking" them.

And the schoolgirl, also 14, is said to have described any violence against him as "karma" in the run-up to his death.

She was seen "strutting" along the pavement acting "Queen Bee" moments after the killer knife ambush, a witness told the court yesterday.

Prosecutor Alison Morgan QC explained how the schoolgirl had phoned Olly several times to arrange the meet up. 

The girl and the older boy, who also cannot be named, have both admitted manslaughter.

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 started to fight and he saw the victim reach for his own waistband and assumed 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 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 lasted between 30 and 40 seconds and he then left the scene with the older boy.

The boy said he threw the knife into the Thames as he crossed Reading Bridge on his way home.

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 wasn't sure if he had stabbed Olly.

Just before he began giving evidence, the boy admitted a charge of perverting the course of justice by throwing away clothing worn at the time of the killing.

Asked why he removed and hid 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 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.

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