Teenage boy ‘stabbed in heart by 14-year-old’ in front of primary school pupils

A 15-year-old boy was stabbed through the heart by a 14-year-old “in full view” of pupils leaving a primary school and the people waiting to collect them, a jury has been told.

Alfie Lewis died after he was attacked in the Horsforth area of Leeds by another teenager, who went on trial accused of murder on Monday, prosecutors said.

Craig Hassall KC, prosecuting, said Alfie had been walking down the street to meet friends at the end of the school day when the defendant, who is now 15, attacked him with a 13cm-long kitchen knife he had brought from his home.

He said witnesses recalled Alfie looking “surprised and shocked” and saying to the defendant: “What are you doing?” as the incident unfolded close to St Margaret’s Primary School, in Town Street, Horsforth, just before 3pm on Nov 7 2023.

The prosecutor said: “Alfie did not get as far as meeting any of his friends that day.

“He was approached by (the defendant), and stabbed twice – once in the chest and once in the leg.

“He collapsed and died in the road close to the primary school in full view of scores of pupils leaving school and the people who were waiting to collect them.”

Stab injury punctured heart

The prosecutor said a post-mortem examination revealed that the fatal stab injury was a 14cm-deep wound to Alfie’s chest that punctured his heart.

Mr Hassall told the jury at Leeds Crown Court: “[The defendant] then fled the scene, dropping the murder weapon in the road close to the primary school.”

The prosecutor said the defendant had already admitted possessing the knife.

He added: “As we understand it, [the defendant] will accept that Alfie was killed by the knife from his kitchen drawer at home, but will say that, at all times, he was acting in self-defence.”

Mr Hassall told the jury of seven women and five men: “But all of the witnesses are consistent however in that none of them suggest that Alfie was in any way the aggressor on November 7.

“None of them suggest that it was Alfie that attacked [the defendant].

“Several of the witnesses speak of Alfie seeming surprised and shocked at what [the defendant] was doing.

“Several of them recall hearing Alfie ask of [the defendant]: ‘What are you doing?’

He said: “None of the witnesses heard Alfie shouting at or threatening [the defendant].

“Insofar as any of the witnesses saw Alfie doing anything towards [the defendant], they describe him trying in vain to defend himself from [the defendant’s] knife.

“Several of the witnesses describe deliberate blows by [the defendant] to Alfie.”

Boy denies one count of murder

The defendant, who cannot be named, denies one count of murdering Alfie. He sat next to his father in the well of the court for Mr Hassall’s opening statement.

Mr Hassall said two children described the defendant “going purposefully towards Alfie and then attacking him while Alfie tried to defend himself”.

The prosecutor said one woman on the afternoon school run “did not see Alfie do anything to [the defendant] to start the fight and said that Alfie had not raised a fist to him”.

He said the woman had been walking in the same direction as Alfie “and said that everything seemed quite happy and normal”.

‘Previous incidents’

The prosecutor told the jury about two previous incidents involving Alfie and the defendant.

He said one was in July 2023, when Alfie intervened in a fight involving the defendant, and the second happened on Hallowe’en, when Alfie claimed the defendant threw a firework at him.

In recorded video evidence played on Monday, a 15-year-old girl told the jury that the fight in July was between her younger brother and the defendant.

She recalled that, when she was hit in the face by the defendant, Alfie pushed him and said, “Why are you hitting a girl?”.

She said the defendant fell to the floor but Alfie helped him up and they shook hands.

Asked about the events of November 7, the girl said someone told her Alfie had been stabbed and she saw him on the ground. The girl said she ran over to him and said: “Alfie, don’t die on me. Please wake up.”

The trial continues.