Trial hears teen accused of Holly Newton murder in Hexham may have been suffering effects of PTSD

Holly Newton suffered 36 stab wounds in an attack which lasted about one minute in January 2023. Credit: Family

The trial of a teenager accused of murdering a schoolgirl in a knife attack in Hexham has been told he may have been suffering from the effects of PTSD after being physically abused as a child.

The 17-year-old, who was 16 at the time and cannot be named, admits manslaughter but denies the murder of Holly Newton, from Haltwhistle, on the grounds he did not intend to cause serious harm.

A jury at Newcastle Crown Court heard on Tuesday (20 August) that he could have been suffering from PTSD - possibly causing him to "zone out" during the attack in January last year.

Dr Alison Foster, a clinical psychologist, who had spent time assessing the youth after his arrest was called by the defence to give evidence.

She told the court she thought he might have PTSD after being physically abused as a child.

There is a feature of that condition, she explained to the jury, called dissociation.

She said: "Zoning out - feels like somebody is not with you in that moment. Their head is elsewhere."

The attack on Holly Newton took place in an alleyway next to the Pizza Pizza shop on Priestpopple, in Hexham. Credit: NCJ Media

Asked what effect thinking Holly was being horrible to him might have had, the psychologist told the court: "It’s a possibility that the event could have led to a loss of control but I can’t completely say that’s what happened.

"It could have led to the impairment of mental state, potentially."

During the fatal attack on Holly she said the killer's state of mind might have been highly stressed - causing him to act without control or thought, she said.

The trial of the teenager has been sitting for almost five weeks.

During this time the jury has heard how the then 16-year-old inflicted 36 knife injuries in an attack that lasted around one minute in an alleyway off Priestpopple.

CCTV captured the teenage boy following Holly Newton in Hexham on the evening she was killed. Credit: Northumbria Police

Photos of the weapon used in the killing - its blade broken from the handle - have been shown to the jury along with CCTV showing the youth on trial following Holly from a distance.

The youth admits killing her but denies intending to do so - saying that Holly had been horrible when they spoke at a pizza shop near where she was attacked and that his mind went blank.

He had taken a knife with him and said he intended to hurt himself and not her.

The trial continues.

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