Schoolboy Harry Pitman was stabbed to death on Primrose Hill after accidentally bumping into another teenager while playing a game with a friend, the Old Bailey has heard.
The 16-year-old collapsed and died “almost immediately” after being stabbed in the neck at the popular beauty spot on New Year’s Eve last year while enjoying a night out with friends.
Jurors heard the teenager cried out “help” after being stabbed, moments before he collapsed, and nothing could be done to save his life.
Another teenager, 17, has admitted inflicting the fatal wound and is now on trial for murder.
Spurs fan Harry and friends had gone to the famous viewing platform at the top of the hill to watch the traditional fireworks display in central London.
The teenagers had been in high spirits, drinking and smoking cigarettes, and Harry had mixed in good humour with random members of the public and a police officer on duty in the park, it is said.
But “revelry turned to tragedy in the blink of an eye”, said prosecutor Jocelyn Ledward KC, after an accidental collision spiralled rapidly into violence, the Old Bailey heard
Jurors were told one eyewitness to the stabbing saw Harry “playing a game” with a friend while “trying to see how high he could kick by aiming at the hand of one of the girls nearby which she was holding up in the air”.
“He became unbalanced, and knocked into one of the group standing behind them”, said Ms Ledward.
Another eyewitness described Harry as “playfighting”, and the teenager who had been accidentally bumped into - a stranger to Harry - “reacted angrily and pushed Harry from behind on his back”.
That teenager’s friend is then accused of wading into the fight that broke out, fatally stabbing Harry with the knife he was carrying.
The stabbing itself was caught on camera, as well as some of Harry’s last words, and the clips have been played to the jury with members of Harry’s family sitting in the well of the courtroom.
Jurors have been told the teenager on trial for murder admits stabbing Harry, but is set to argue it was an accident and he was acting in self-defence at the time.
“On the evening of 31 December 2023, a large crowd gathered in the public park onPrimrose Hill in North London, which has become quite a well-known place to have a good vantage point from which to view the now customary New Year’s Eve fireworks display on the Thames in Central London - quite a long, and spectacular, and flamboyant display”, she told the court.
“Harry had travelled to Primrose Hill with his close friends in order to celebrate NewYear’s Eve.”
But she told jurors: “Revelry turned to tragedy in the blink of an eye: HarryPitman, aged 16, was stabbed once, to the neck.
“He died almost immediately, as a result of that single but deadly injury.”
The suspected killer was himself 16-years-old at the time, and cannot be identified due to his age.
The court heard the streets of Primrose Hill were filled with cars and pedestriansthat night, while the vantage point itself was populated by groups ofrevelers.
Harry’s group of friends arrived first at the location, and grew in number as theevening progressed.
The suspected killer’s group of friends arrived later in two taxis, the court heard.
“The defendant and the deceased Harry Pitman were strangers”, said Ms Ledward.
“Their respective groups of friends and acquaintances were also complete strangers to each other: there is no indication that anyone from one group had had any contact with anyone in the other group prior to this particular evening.”
Describing the sequence of events, Ms Ledward said the outbreak of violence was so swift that some people who were standing right next to Harry “did not see what happened”.
However a woman, Amaal Abdulahi, caught some of the incident on her mobile phone camera that she had out ready to film the fireworks.
The court heard the first clip showed Harry, wearing blue jeans, a white T-shirt, and a black Adidas jacket, speaking to the teenager he had accidentally bumped into, saying: “Don’t touch me, because I didn’t touch you”.
Ms Abdulahi saw Harry turning away and being slapped across the back of his head, and then recorded another clip lasting just over a minute which captured the stabbing itself.
Ms Ledward said there is a “scuffle” between Harry and the teenager he had bumped into, during which Harry is “grabbed by the scruff of the neck” and punches are thrown at him.
“Harry threw punches back, the last of which appears to have connected to (the boy’s) face or eye area”, said the prosecutor.
The other boy fell backwards, jurors heard, and the suspected killer is then accused of moving forward and joining the fight.
The court heard a woman’s voice is heard on the video, as a witness says “mindi” – the Somali word for ‘knife’, and the witness says she saw a teen boy “remove a knife from the waist area of his trousers, using one hand to hold his trousers and the other to pull the knife out”.
In the video, the court heard Harry and the suspected killer are seen fighting, and after Harry threw a series of punches the other boy is accused of stabbing him in the neck.
“(He) brings his right arm upwards from his side in an arc-ing motion, and down towards the top of Harry’s shoulder”, said Ms Ledward.
“A light-coloured, slim, shiny object held in his right hand catches the light. The prosecution suggest it must have been the knife.”
She said the boy “stabs downwards to the left of Harry’s neck, at the junction between his neck and his left shoulder. As he does so, a long, slim black object flies through the air in an arc above their heads. The prosecution suggest this must have been a knife sheath or scabbard.”
Bodyworn video from a police officer on duty on Primrose Hill captured the moment Harry pushed his way out of the crowd after being stabbed.
“His T-shirt was covered in blood and he was holding his neck, asking ‘help’”, said Ms Ledward.
“He was helped to the ground, and officers immediately began attempts at first aid. Harry very quickly lost consciousness.”.
The teenager was declared dead just a few minutes before midnight.
The court heard that prior to the stabbing Harry “bounced over” to a police officerto offer him a cigarette and ask if he was having a good night, and the teenager was described as “excitable”.
Harry, who grew up in Tottenham and was a pupil at St Thomas More Catholic School in Wood Green, had also stepped in as a peacemaker when one of his friends - who was drunk - got into an altercation with another person, it is said.
The suspected killer denies murder and possession of an offensive weapon.
He was allegedly seen holding a hunting knife as he left Primrose Hill, and it is believed the weapon, which has never been recovered, may have been thrown ina rubbish bin which was emptied before a police search.
A forensic examination of the knife scabbard led to a DNA match to the defendant, jurors heard.
Following a media appeal, the youth went to Hammersmith police station with his father on January 4.
He said in a statement: “The only reason I came to speak to the police on 4th January is because I saw my image being publicised on the Sun newspaper.”
He admitted being in the park but said he left when he was threatened, denying the stabbing, or having a weapon.
Ms Ledward told jurors there is now no dispute that the defendant stabbed Harry and the likely issues will be whether it was an accident and what he intended at the time.
She said: “The prosecution case is that (the defendant) deliberately plunged that knife into a very vulnerable part of Harry’s body – his neck.
“The use of a large-bladed knife in that way and the targeting of that part of Harry’s body was no accident.
“Whatever the rights or wrongs of the short few seconds of closed-fist punches being exchanged which preceded that stabbing, it was out of all proportion to anythreat which Harry and his friends presented to (the defendant) and hisfriends).”
Mr Justice Cavanagh told jurors the trial would be sitting shorter than normal hours due to the age of the defendant, and “special arrangements” have been put in place for him including a ‘fidget box’ being allowed with him in the dock.
The trial continues.
