31:
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Stephens was physically attacked by the two boys, initially using their fists. He defended himself, with one of the boys stating at trial that
Stephens had managed to knock him to the ground. After a short while, the younger boy produced the knife he was carrying and stabbed Stephens twice. The two
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Following the attack, Stephens' two assailants attempted to destroy or conceal evidence. They disposed of bloodstained clothing by throwing it into an overgrown area close to a railway line, and deleted incriminating material from their mobile phones. They later searched the internet for reports
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The two boys sought to recruit a girl to lure
Stephens to a location where he could be attacked. The girl, who knew Stephens in real life, met his two assailants online and only saw them in person for the first time on the day of the murder. Through voice notes later recovered during the police
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investigation found that social media accounts set up to resemble those of a 13-year-old boy were recommended posts "showing off knives, knives for sale and videos glorifying violence" within only a few weeks of liking and interacting with content relating to sports, popular music and gaming.
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On 26 July 2021, after a five-week trial, both boys were unanimously convicted of murder. The older boy was also convicted of perverting the course of justice, although the younger boy was acquitted of the same charge. Following the verdict, Stephens' parents called the killing a "callous and
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The murder attracted considerable media and public interest for the ages of the perpetrators and the role social media played in the attack. Stephens' parents claimed social media "played a massive part" in their son's death and called for it to face tighter regulation by the government. In
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On 3 January 2021, the 14-year-old girl arranged to meet
Stephens at Bugs Bottom, a field close to his home, shortly before 5pm. Stephens believed the girl would be alone, but when he arrived he was "ambushed" by two boys aged 13 and 14. The 13-year-old boy was armed with a knife.
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on him for 30 minutes, but he died in an ambulance before he could be taken to hospital. Stephens' parents were told of the attack by another boy, and arrived at the field to find paramedics working on their son. They later recalled knowing he was "gone" when they saw him.
215:. The perpetrators were quickly identified and were charged less than a week later, on 6 January. Over 90% of the evidence gathered and presented at trial was taken from mobile phone data, although forensic evidence from the boys' recovered clothing was also adduced.
237:, with minimum terms of 13 years for the younger boy and 12 years for the older boy. The sentences will initially be served in a young offender institution. The 14-year-old girl was sentenced to three years and two months' detention in a young offender institution.
164:
investigation, the boys discussed their plan to attack
Stephens, saying they would "give him bangs or stab him". In another voice note, the 14-year-old girl claimed to be "excited" that one of the boys planned to "bang him and pattern him and shit".
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The 14-year-old girl was charged with
Stephens' manslaughter for luring him to the field, and to perverting the course of justice for deleting incriminating data from her mobile phone. She pleaded guilty to both offences.
107:
on 3 January 2021. The subsequent police investigation found that he had been lured to the field by a 14-year-old girl, where he was attacked by two boys aged 13 and 14, the younger of whom was armed with a knife.
159:
showing a young boy being humiliated by two older boys. He tried to alert the boy's brother by forwarding the video to him. This outraged the two older boys in the video, who accused
Stephens of "snitching".
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The murder attracted considerable media attention, in no small part as a result of the young ages of both the victim and the perpetrators. Considerable scrutiny was paid to the role played by
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him." The younger boy, who had actually wounded
Stephens, described it as "the biggest mistake of my life" in another text message, and said it was done "out of pure anger".
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and sentenced to a minimum of 12 and 13 years' imprisonment. The girl who lured
Stephens to the field pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to be detained in a
257:
particular, they said that social media companies should do more to verify the age of users and to prevent children from seeing violent or otherwise harmful content.
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An off-duty nurse, who was walking her dog at Bugs Bottom, witnessed the stabbing and gave first aid to the fatally injured
Stephens. Paramedics performed
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The criminal investigation, in particular the social media and other digital evidence obtained as part of the case, was the subject of an episode of a
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Two hours after
Stephens had died, the older boy admitted his role in a text message sent to another teenager, telling him, "Boy it was me and my boy
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Social media played a significant role in the events leading to the murder. In the weeks before his death, Stephens had seen a video posted to
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and knife culture in the attack, with Stephens' parents subsequently calling for more stringent regulation of social media companies.
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The two boys were charged with the murder of Olly Stephens, which they denied. Both boys were also charged with two counts of
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Many of the voice notes recovered discussed knives. Videos of the boys showing off knives were found on their mobile phones.
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222:, relating to attempts to dispose of evidence following the stabbing. Both boys admitted one count, but denied the other.
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95:(1 November 2007 – 3 January 2021) was a 13-year-old schoolboy who was fatally stabbed in a field close to his home in
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As they are under the age of 18, none of Stephens' assailants may be named or otherwise identified under British law.
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All three defendants were sentenced on 24 September 2021. Both boys were sentenced to be
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674:"Olly Stephens - who was he and how were 13-year-old's killers caught and jailed?"
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571:"Reading stabbing: Girl scared before Olly Stephens attack, court told"
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cold-hearted act" and called for more to be done to stop knife crime.
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519:"Reading stabbing: Olly Stephens killed in ambush plan, court told"
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366:"Olly Stephens: Three teenagers detained over boy's stabbing death"
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199:. I started slapping him up and then my boy backed out and then
598:"Olly Stephens' parents recall 'horror' of day he was murdered"
699:"Olly Stephens: Girl's sentence increased over stabbing death"
398:"Two 14-year-olds sentenced for murder of Oliver Stephens, 13"
626:"Reading stabbing: Boy admitted killing in text, court hears"
148:, a suburb of Reading, Berkshire. He had been diagnosed with
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for three years and two months, later increased on appeal.
645:"Two teenage boys guilty of murder of Oliver Stephens, 13"
545:"Reading stabbing: Boy tells court he wanted 'fist fight'"
327:"Teenagers convicted of murder of Olly Stephens – Reading"
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Olly Stephens was born on 1 November 2007. He lived in
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decided that the sentence handed down to the girl was
491:"Teenagers guilty of killing youngster Olly Stephens"
136:documentary "Murder Case: The Digital Detectives".
111:In July 2021, the two boys were each convicted of
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253:, and increased it to five years' imprisonment.
211:The murder was investigated by detectives from
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761:January 2021 events in the United Kingdom
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466:"Murder Case: The Digital Detectives"
441:"A social media murder: Olly's story"
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288:"Tribute to Olly Stephens – Reading"
771:Knife attacks in the United Kingdom
746:Murder trials in the United Kingdom
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796:21st century in Reading, Berkshire
741:2021 murders in the United Kingdom
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235:detained at Her Majesty's pleasure
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643:Davies, Caroline (26 July 2021).
439:Spring, Marianna (20 June 2022).
220:perverting the course of justice
152:shortly before he was murdered.
86:Amanda Stephens, Stuart Stephens
816:Ambushes in the United Kingdom
672:Smith, Reanna (20 June 2022).
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766:January 2021 crimes in Europe
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786:Stabbing attacks in England
781:Deaths by person in England
16:High-profile murder in 2021
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801:Murder committed by minors
117:young offender institution
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776:Stabbing attacks in 2021
751:English female criminals
60:3 January 2021 (aged 13)
245:In December 2021, the
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293:Thames Valley Police
213:Thames Valley Police
207:Trial and sentencing
192:about the stabbing.
791:Murder in Berkshire
374:. 24 September 2021
75:Cause of death
811:2021 controversies
756:2020s in Berkshire
705:. 10 December 2021
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725:Categories
678:The Mirror
269:References
140:Background
806:Snap Inc.
241:Aftermath
134:Channel 4
101:Berkshire
83:Parent(s)
68:Berkshire
703:BBC News
630:BBC News
602:BBC News
575:BBC News
549:BBC News
523:BBC News
445:BBC News
371:BBC News
262:BBC News
157:Snapchat
709:21 June
683:21 June
654:21 June
607:21 June
581:21 June
555:21 June
529:21 June
503:21 June
450:21 June
409:21 June
378:21 June
337:21 June
300:21 June
201:shanked
105:England
97:Reading
64:Reading
51:England
171:Attack
150:autism
113:murder
78:Murder
197:innit
711:2022
685:2022
656:2022
609:2022
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557:2022
531:2022
505:2022
452:2022
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57:Died
41:Born
185:CPR
99:in
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
