Killer of teenager Holly Newton convicted of murder

A youth who stabbed a schoolgirl to death outside of a Hexham pizza shop has been convicted of her murder at Newcastle Crown Court today.

The 17-year-old, who was only 16 at the time of the attack, was responsible for a brutal and sustained knife attack on Holly Newton, 15, of Haltwhistle, in January of last year.

The boy had followed Holly and some friends around Hexham for approximately an hour prior to the attack, before persuading her to talk to him in an alley adjacent to a pizza shop in the Popplewell area of the town.

He then stabbed her repeatedly with a kitchen knife he had brought from his home, stopping only when pulled from his victim by passers-by who had gone to her aid.

The youth had previously denied a charge of murder and a further charge of the wounding with intent, in relation to a further young victim who had tried to intervene in the attack.

Lynsey Colling, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “The killing of Holly Newton has been utterly devastating for her family and our focus throughout this case has been to ensure that the person responsible was brought to justice for his actions.

“A significant challenge for us in the early stages of the case was to establish the defendant’s fitness to plead, which had been raised as an issue by the defence. The Crown instructed specialist psychologists, whose independent assessments persuaded the court that the defendant did, in fact, have the capacity to enter pleas and to stand trial for the allegations made against him”

"Today’s outcome is the result of effective partnership working between the Crown Prosecution Service and Northumbria Police from the very early stages of this investigation.

“Our thoughts remain with Holly’s family, for whom this remains a particularly difficult time, and we only hope that Holly’s family can take some measure of comfort in seeing her killer brought to justice.”