Teen had 'bad thoughts' before killing girl

Holly Newton was killed in Hexham in January 2023

A teenager had "bad thoughts" in his head moments before he killed a 15-year-old girl, a court has heard.

Holly Newton was stabbed multiple times in an alleyway in Hexham town centre by a youth who she had complained was "stalking" her, Newcastle Crown Court has heard.

A 17-year-old boy, who was 16 at the time and cannot be identified, has admitted manslaughter but denies murder.

The boy told jurors he had been "tracking" Holly through Hexham and hid from her.

Jurors were shown CCTV of the boy, dressed all in black with a baseball cap and snood covering his face, following Holly and her friend for up to 45 minutes before the attack at about 17:00 GMT on 27 January 2023.

In the footage, the boy could be seen doubling back and concealing himself in a doorway when Holly stopped outside Pizza Pizza on Priestpopple.

Jurors have seen CCTV footage of the defendant (in the red box) following Holly (in the yellow frame)

His lawyer Nigel Edwards KC asked the boy what his "headspace" was like.

The youth, who the court heard has been diagnosed with autism, said he was "not too sure what was going on" and he felt "weird" as he was "doing something [he] wouldn't normally do."

When asked what that was, the boy said: "I suppose track people."

He said he was hiding in the doorway and used his phone's camera to "look round corners" and try to see where Holly was.

When asked why, the boy said he was waiting for Holly to go as he just "genuinely wanted to go back home at that point".

'She recognised me'

Mr Edwards asked what was going through the boy's head.

The youth, who previously told the court he had been abused since childhood, replied "bad thoughts" and memories of "bad stuff" from his past, adding he was "confused".

He said he then went to walk by to get to the bus station but Holly "recognised" him and, "not in a nice way", asked him what he was doing there.

The boy said he could not remember what he and Holly said to one another, but his head was "not doing well" with his mind "playing tricks" and he was "just seeing stuff that wasn’t actually there."

He also said he could not remember attacking Holly but he "genuinely" thought he was cutting himself with the knife, which he said he had taken from his kitchen to self-harm with.

Holly was stabbed with a kitchen knife which broke during the attack

The court has heard on the morning of the day she was killed, Holly had told friends the boy was "stalking" her.

Her mother had arranged a meeting with police to raise her concerns about him, but Holly was killed hours before that took place.

Holly, who lived in Haltwhistle, had 36 injuries inflicted by a knife which broke during the attack.

The youth has told jurors he was trying to kill himself and did not mean or want to hurt Holly.

He has denied wounding another teenager boy who was stabbed while trying to stop the attack on Holly.

The trial continues.