Teens guilty of murdering boy ‘lured’ to park and fatally stabbed
Two 14-year-old boys have been found guilty of murdering a teen who was “lured” to a park and fatally stabbed.
Oliver Stephens, 13, was pronounced dead at Bugs Bottom field in Emmer Green, Reading, on 3 January.
Oliver, known as Olly, was persuaded to go to the park by a 14-year-old girl, where he was “ambushed” by the two boys, Reading Crown Court previously heard.
The court heard the boys had “grievances” with Olly and the girl is said to have described violence against him as “karma”.
The trio had messaged on Snapchat in the days before the stabbing, and the older boy had written: “I actually hate the kid with a passion – if I was to see him right now I’d probably end up killing him.”
Prosecutor Alison Morgan QC had said that Olly was “unknowingly walking into an ambush” and had been “lured” by the girl, who remained at the scene during the attack.
A witness said a number of punches had been thrown before the younger boy – who was 13 at the time – had stabbed Olly in the chest and back.
Ms Morgan said of the witness: “She could see blood coming from his chest and heard sucking sounds, which she knew was not a good sound, as air was not getting into Olly’s lungs.
Police pictured in January during the investigation into Olly’s death
“She noticed the shock was setting in and knew he was in cardiac arrest and began CPR on him.”
The court also heard the boy had “encouraged” others to look for news stories about the incident, with the older boy messaging a friend, saying: “Me and my boy slapped him up but my boy backed out and f****** shanked him.”
Ms Morgan said: “There was no sign of any regret and no suggestion he was in any way shocked.”
The younger boy had told a female friend in a message: “It was the biggest mistake of my life”, saying he had carried out the attack “out of pure anger”.
When questioned in court, the younger boy said he had taken a knife to the park because the older boy had told him to, and he had expected Olly to have a weapon.
The younger boy said that, during the fight, Olly had reached towards his waistband and he had assumed a knife would be pulled out.
The younger boy had used his knife because he thought the older boy, who was still fighting with Olly, was “going to get stabbed”.
But the older boy said he was not aware his younger friend had a knife and was shocked by the stabbing.
The jury deliberated for just over 18 hours before returning guilty verdicts to the murder charges.
The older boy and the girl had already admitted manslaughter.
Olly was killed in a park that was popular with joggers and walkers
The younger boy had also admitted perverting the course of justice by disposing of clothing worn during the murder, while the older boy admitted the same offence for deleting mobile phone applications.
None of the three can be publicly identified because of their age and they will be sentenced at a later date.
Olly’s family said after the verdict: “He left our home on that fateful afternoon with love and laughter in his heart, with the hope of a bright fun filled future ahead of him.
“Within 13 minutes of leaving the safety of his loving home Olly had left us forever.
“Two minutes was all it took to end him and cause us and our family catastrophic heartbreak.
“When I reached where Olly fell, I gently held his hand, willing him to respond, with the same love and devotion as I had on the day we met, the day he was born.
“Olly was our boy. We raised him to the best of our ability. He was a huge character in and around our home, with his friends and at school.
“He made people laugh, he could dance with the best of them, and he gave his love freely. His sense of humour and his wicked comic timing had us and his friends in stitches many a time.
“He was warm, kind, soulful, a deep thinker and a great carer to those around him. He was loyal and trusted people to a fault. He would never back down from a fight; he would defend those that couldn’t or wouldn’t defend themselves.
“I pressed on him the importance of running from a fight, to get clear and take stock of events later, we would deal with the fallout together. He did not see it my way. It cost him his life.
“The memories and stories we have of Olly’s short life have now become priceless treasures locked away in our hearts and minds forever.”
UK
Post Office scandal: At least 8 convictions may be linked to second IT system used by Post Office
At least eight convictions predating the Horizon Post Office scandal are being looked at by the body investigating potential miscarriages of justice, Sky News has learned.
The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) has confirmed it is examining multiple cases of former sub-postmasters affected by Capture software.
The computer accounting system was used in the early 1990s, prior to Horizon being introduced to Post Office branches from 1999 onwards.
Horizon was at the centre of the Post Office scandal and saw hundreds of sub-postmasters wrongly convicted of stealing from their branches.
The Kroll report, commissioned by the government earlier this year, found that Capture had bugs and glitches and there was a reasonable likelihood it had caused cash shortfalls too.
Lord Beamish, the former Labour MP Kevan Jones, has been supporting victims and is calling for the government to extend current legislation to automatically quash convictions.
The Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Act was passed in May but does not include Capture victims.
Lord Beamish told Sky News he has raised the issue with the Justice Secretary and called for a House of Lords debate.
“The government are going to have to take this seriously,” he said. “We can’t have a situation where we have a two-tier system where people get exonerated from Horizon and the Capture cases are either forgotten or have to go through a very lengthy legal process to get their names cleared.”
Chris claims his mother was wrongly jailed because of accounting problems with the Post Office software Capture
He added he had “little faith” in the CCRC’s “ability to deal with cases”, after multiple Horizon cases were referred to the body years ago.
“The problem with these cases is the lack of evidence… that has been destroyed or lost so actually proving some of these cases through that process will be very difficult.
“Therefore I think a blanket exoneration like we had with Horizon I think has got to be discussed and considered for these cases.”
The CCRC told Sky News it has five cases under review “in which the Capture IT system could be a factor”.
It also said it is “seeking further information” on eight cases referenced in the Kroll report.
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The CCRC added that the time taken for a case review to be completed was dependent on the “complexity” of each case “and how readily available information about it is”. In a statement, it admitted: “The availability of information can be a particular hurdle in older cases.”
Chris’s mother died earlier this year following a battle with Alzheimer’s and never got to clear her name
Chris Roberts’ mother, Liz Roberts, was convicted in 1999 of stealing £46,000 from the Post Office and spent 13 months behind bars.
Liz, who was in the advanced stages of Alzheimer’s disease, passed away earlier this year.
Chris said she was jailed four days before he turned 17, and he used to have “nightmares” that she was “going to die in there”.
“There was no evidence of any financial gain because they went through everything. And obviously the money wasn’t in our accounts because it didn’t exist,” he added.
Despite being offered “three deals” by the Post Office to plead guilty, Liz refused and was sent to prison.
Liz Roberts during happier times before she was jailed for theft – her son insists she was innocent
Chris believes that the 2019 High Court win by Horizon victims was a missed opportunity for the Post Office to look back at Capture cases.
“It would have been worth something then because my mum would have died knowing that everybody else knew she was innocent,” he said.
“My dad would have died knowing that the love of his life wasn’t vilified as a criminal.”
Chris wants his mother exonerated and “those actively responsible” to “stand up in court… and justify themselves”.
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Sky’s Adele Robinson examines Britain’s biggest miscarriages of justice
A Department for Business and Trade spokesperson said: “We were horrified to learn about the issues with the Capture system and are working closely across government to thoroughly examine Kroll’s independent report and consider what action should be taken.
“We continue to listen to postmasters and others who have been sharing their views on the report’s findings since its publication last month.”
Official accounts have revealed for the first time how much the King’s 2023 coronation cost UK taxpayers.
According to the accounts, the government spent £72m on the coronation – the first in Britain since Queen Elizabeth II’s in 1953.
The figure includes £50.3m of costs attributed to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), which coordinated the coronation, and £21.7m in costs for the Home Office for the policing of the event.
By comparison, Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral and events during the period of national mourning cost the government an estimated £162m – £74m for the Home Office and £57m for the DCMS as well as costs to the devolved governments.
The figures come from the culture department’s recently released annual report and accounts.
The department said it had “successfully delivered on the central weekend of His Majesty King Charles III’s Coronation, enjoyed by many millions both in the UK and across the globe”.
People walk past a souvenir shop during the coronation. Pic: Reuters
It described the event as a “once-in-a-generation moment” which provided an occasion for the “entire country to come together in celebration”.
Both the King and Queen were crowned at Westminster Abbey in May last year, in a ceremony attended by dignitaries from around the world.
A star-studded concert at Windsor Castle, featuring Take That and stars such as Olly Murs, Katy Perry and Lionel Richie, took place the following night.
It had been described ahead of the event as being a “slimmed-down affair” – with the country still in the grips of the cost-of-living crisis – and accounts show an “underspend” related to the coronation of around £2.8m.
Olly Murs performing at the Coronation Concert. Pic: Reuters
Did coronation boost the economy?
Despite talk of a coronation boost, the UK’s economy actually contracted in the month of May 2023.
However, experts said that was mostly due to the cost of the additional public holiday for the event, which weighed on output.
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Each bank holiday costs the UK economy around £2.3bn, with the extra bank holiday for the late Queen’s funeral estimated to have cost around £2.4bn, according to government figures.
With the extra coronation bank holiday, data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed negative growth of 0.1% during May 2023.
However, that was slightly better than economists had predicted ahead of the event.
Prior to the event, economic forecasters, the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), had predicted a boost of £337m for the UK’s economy due to the coronation – including £104m in extra pub spending and an estimated £223m spend from tourism to the UK during the period.
Hotel revenue was also said to be up by 54% compared to the same point in the previous year, while bookings for UK-bound flights for the coronation weekend jumped by 149% within 24 hours of the day being announced, according to TravelPort.
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