Boy found guilty of murdering Eastbourne teenager

A boy has been found guilty of murdering an Eastbourne teenager in Newhaven.

Oliver Wells, 18, known as Ollie, tragically died after being stabbed in the head and back in Elphick Road, Newhaven, on January 6, this year.

The youngster, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was found guilty of his murder yesterday (September 17), following a seven-day trial at Hove Crown Court.

Judge Jeremy Gold QC summed up the case at Hove Crown Court before the 12 jurors retired.

A car which was outside a property in Elphick Road left the scene at 11.21pm, before a 999 call was made four minutes later by a woman trying to save Ollie’s life, the court heard.

The young defendant and Ollie had been engaging with people who were in the car from an upstairs window before the defendant grabbed a knife from the kitchen and the pair went outside.

Both the defendant and Ollie engaged in a conversation on a doorstep before the defendant became ‘agitated and stressed’ and was heard saying Ollie was ‘bringing trouble to the door’, the court heard,

A fight then broke out between the pair. The court heard that the defendant started punching Ollie who was crouched by a door. He then grabbed a metal letterbox and started striking him with that.

The defendant then ‘pursued Ollie with the knife in anger’ before he collapsed to the floor.

The court heard that the defendant said he did not intend to use the knife.

He said he grabbed it when he was not thinking and was angry, scared and anxious that people were outside – but he did not intend to hurt or kill Ollie.

Ollie was throwing punches, the defendant claimed, and he acted in self-defense as he believed he was under attack.

The jury delivered its verdicts just over two hours later.

The offender, who was 16 at the time of the stabbing but now 17, will be sentenced today (Friday, September 18).

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