Mother of fatally-stabbed girl, 9, recalls their final hours together

The mother of a nine-year-old girl has described their final hours together before the child was killed.

Aria Thorpe died after being stabbed in her chest at her home in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, on 15 December last year.

A 16-year-old boy, who cannot be identified due to his age, denies charges of murder and manslaughter in relation to Aria's death.

Aria's mother, Victoria Hull, known as Tori, had collected her from an after-school dance class at 4.30pm.

In a statement read to the jury at Bristol Crown Court, Ms Hull said: "Aria said she had a really good day. We went to Aldi and got mini-pizzas and toppings. We got home at 4.45pm, and made the pizzas.

"Aria was eating her pizza, sitting on the sofa in the living room.

"Aria seemed bubbly and happy, because she had a good dance class.

"She said something like, 'see you after work, Mummy'. I replied, 'see you after work, love you'."

Ms Hull then headed out to work at Pontins, where she was doing evening shifts to earn extra money for Christmas.

The court heard she became aware people were trying to contact her and left work, arriving at a friend's house at 7.18pm.

"The police were there," she said. "This is when I found out about Aria. I phoned my mum. Female police officers took me to my parents' house. It was all a blur."

Jurors previously heard that the defendant went to a nearby railway station after Aria was stabbed, and allegedly told a group of children what he had done.

One of those children, a girl aged 14, called 999 and directed them to the platform where the boy was waiting to board the next train.

She told the emergency call handler that the boy had said that he had "stabbed" Aria.

"He is saying that he stabbed her, and she is dead on the living room floor," the girl said.

In a police interview, the girl, who cannot be identified due to her age, described the boy as "anxious" and "shaking" as he talked to them.

She told an officer: "I called police and told them what had happened. As soon as he saw the police, he ran over the bridge and jumped on the train.

"The police stopped the train, and caught him."

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Another boy, aged 13, said the defendant had told him he stabbed Aria "on accident".

"He was anxious," he added. "He saw police cars going past, and said, 'they're probably looking for me'."

A 12-year-old boy told police: "He was saying, 'I've done something really bad, I'm going to go to jail for a long time'."

PC Timothy Stride attended Worle railway station, and spotted the defendant running on to a train.

The officer shouted to staff to stop the train from leaving, and arrested him on suspicion of attempted murder.

"I could feel him shaking," PC Stride said. "I advised him to take some deep breaths."

In a police interview, the boy gave a prepared statement describing how he had stabbed Aria "in the chest".

He told officers: "I didn't use a lot of force, but it was a big knife.

"I don't know why I did it, it just happened. I walked over, and stabbed her. She fell to the floor."

The trial continues.

(c) Sky News 2026: Mother of fatally-stabbed girl, 9, recalls their final hours together