Killer who stalked schoolgirl before stabbing her in alleyway guilty of murder

Holly Newton had been ‘extremely nervous’ to leave school the day she was killed

Holly Newton had told a friend just hours before she was attacked that the boy, then 16, was ‘basically stalking her’, jurors heard (Northumbria Police/PA) (PA Media)

A teenage boy who lured a 15-year-old girl down an alleyway and stabbed her to death after stalking her has been convicted of murder.

Holly Newton’s mother had been so concerned about the teenage boy, aged 16 at the time, that she had contacted the police about him on the day of her daughter’s death.

Holly suffered 36 injuries in the attack down an alley in Hexham, Northumberland, in January 2023, when she was attacked by the boy, whom she knew.

Before leaving school on 27 January last year, Holly had been “extremely nervous” and had looked for the boy in the grounds and surrounding area. She also messaged a friend to say: “Apparently (the defendant) is gonna meet to me outside of school.

“So he’s basically stalking me at this point. He’s gonna follow me until I talk to him”.

Without her knowledge, her killer followed her and her friends around Hexham from a distance that afternon, and waited to speak to her outside a pizza shop.

Holly Newton’s friends and family at her funeral (Owen Humphreys/PA) (PA Wire)

During the trial, jurors heard that Holly was “not at all happy” to see the defendant but she eventually agreed to speak to him down an alleyway.

“What Holly didn’t know was that (the defendant) had brought a knife with him,” prosecutor David Brooke KC said.

In less than a minute, the defendant inflicted 36 knife wounds on Holly, stabbing her 12 times and slashing her 19 times.

She suffered a further five defensive injuries to her hands.

After being alerted by her screams, another teenage boy ran down the alleyway and grabbed the defendant, and was also stabbed himself.

Passers-by and people from the pizza shop attempted to help and Holly was rushed to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle, but she was pronounced dead.

When arrested, the teenager, who cannot be named due to his age, claimed that Holly had been “horrible” to him when they spoke to one another, and that his mind went blank.

Despite admitting taking a knife to the scene, he denied wanting to hurt his victim and said he had intended to take his own life.

The defendant, now 17, admitted manslaughter but denied murder, claiming his mind went blank that day and that he had only intended to take his own life.

But a jury found him guilty of murder at Newcastle Crown Court on Thursday.

He will be sentenced during a two-day hearing at the same court on October 31.