A teenage boy has been found not guilty of killing a nine-year-old girl in her home.

The 16-year-old, who cannot be named due to his age, was on trial accused of murder and manslaughter following the death of Aria Thorpe. A jury returned verdicts of not guilty for both charges at Bristol Crown Court earlier.

A pathologist previously told the court Aria died of a single stab wound to her chest at her home in Weston-super-Mare on 15 December 2025.

After her death, the nine-year-old’s family paid tribute to her “lively and bubbly” personality.

Some jurors were visibly emotional as they returned their not guilty verdicts and Aria’s mother left the courtroom immediately afterwards.

The accused did not visibly react to the verdicts.

The teenager, who was 15 at the time of Aria’s death, had told jurors he and the nine-year-old had been playfighting when she moved towards him and the knife he was holding went into her chest.

“I was going to try and make her flinch, so I leaned forward like I was fencing,” he said.

His defence barrister, Andrew Langdon KC, told the jury the boy had “made the worst decision of his life” but did not intend to kill or cause harm to the nine-year-old.

After Aria suffered the fatal injury, the 16-year-old left the house and headed for Worle Railway Station. He said he left because he got “scared” and “panicked”.

The jury heard he had been expelled from school for disruptive behaviour and truancy hours before Aria’s death, and that his mother had taken away his phone as a punishment.

He said that without his phone, he was unable to call 999.

Aria was found face down on the floor of her home shortly after 18:00 GMT by Ollie Sheppard, who was temporarily lodging at the house.

Sheppard described the house as being “silent” and “very eerie” when he arrived. “At first I thought she was messing around” he told the court, before he realised Aria’s school shirt was covered in blood.

Emergency services stopped trying to resuscitate the nine-year-old at 18:58.

Aria’s mother, Victoria Hull, said the last time she had seen her daughter alive she had been eating mini-pizzas in front of the TV in the living room.

“Aria seemed bubbly and happy because she had a good dance class,” Hull said.

The girl’s mother then headed out to work as she was doing evening shifts to earn extra money for Christmas.

Hull said the last words which passed between them were “see you after work mummy”, to which she replied: “See you after work, love you.”

After her death, Aria’s family paid tribute to her as “the most beautiful little soul” and described her as a “happy-go-lucky” little girl.

They said she was “full of light and joy”, adding: “The loss of Aria has devastated us beyond words.”

“Our hearts are broken in a way we never imagined possible,” they said.

Aria’s father Tom Thorpe, from Portsmouth, said her death was “devastating”.

“You will be greatly missed, you special little angel,” he added. “A life gone far too early but I hope a life lived well. We all love you dearly. Goodnight darling.”

Speaking after the verdict, Avon and Somerset Police Det Insp Neil Mead said Aria’s family had “shown exceptional courage over the past six months, particularly during this trial, and our thoughts are with them”.

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