The family of nine-year-old Aria Thorpe, who was stabbed to death at home, have hit out at the lack of ‘justice’ after a boy was on Thursday cleared of murder and manslaughter.

The 16-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was found not guilty after claiming he had accidentally plunged a knife into the schoolgirl’s chest while acting ‘like I was fencing’.

He said he had wanted to ‘scare’ Aria and picked up the 8in-long blade from near the kitchen sink before going into the lounge, where she was sitting on the sofa.

The boy then left her home in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, on December 15 last year and went to a nearby railway station – where he told a group of children that her death was an ‘accident’.

Thursday’s verdicts at Bristol Crown Court prompted an outpouring of grief and anger from Aria’s family, who believe the justice system has failed her. 

Aria’s aunt Katie Thorpe said: ‘How is this justice? What message does this send to society? 

‘What does it teach people when a child can lose her life in such a horrific and senseless way, yet nobody is held accountable?

‘Our family has effectively been handed a life sentence. We will carry this grief, heartbreak and loss for the rest of our lives. Meanwhile, the person responsible walks free.’

Great aunt Sarah Cox Pike added: ‘To see the person responsible for taking our beautiful Aria’s life found not guilty is beyond devastating. 

‘It feels like the justice system has failed not only Aria and everyone who loved her, but every family who expects the courts to deliver justice.’

During the trial, the boy told the jury: ‘Aria stood up and I was waving around the knife. 

‘Then at some point I decided that I was going to try to make her flinch and scare her, to get a reaction. I leaned forward, acted like I was fencing.’

He said Aria was in front of him at the time, adding: ‘She had almost taken a step forward but… before she could, it happened. 

‘I don’t know what she was doing. The knife went into her. Then I pulled it out.

‘I didn’t know what to do. She put her hand to her chest.’ 

The boy said Aria fell to the floor on her front. 

‘I thought she had died,’ he told the jury. ‘I got scared, I panicked. So I ran to the kitchen with the knife and put it back into the sink.’

Dr Amanda Jeffery, a Home Office pathologist, said Aria died ‘very swiftly’ from a single stab wound which went through her heart. 

The court heard the wound measured 3.2cm wide and between 7.5cm and 8cm deep.

In a statement read to the jury at Bristol Crown Court, Aria’s mother Victoria Hull said she had helped her daughter get ready for school on the morning of December 15.

She then went to collect Aria at 3.10pm, forgetting her daughter had a dance class. Aria said she wanted to stay for the class, so Ms Hull returned at 4.30pm.

‘Aria said she had a really good day,’ Ms Hull said.

‘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. She was watching YouTube on the television.’

She added: ‘Aria seemed bubbly and happy because she had a good dance class… Aria asked me if she could have the last Oreo after her food and I said yes.

‘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.

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.’

Earlier in the trial the court heard how after stabbing Aria, the teenager went to a nearby railway station and told a group of school children there what he had done.

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

In the call, she told the call handler that the boy said he had ‘stabbed’ Aria.

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

She told an officer: ‘I had a feeling that something wasn’t right. I got one of my friends to distract him because I went down and called the police. I didn’t know if he still had a knife on him.

‘I called police and told them what had happened. A police car came. 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 and then he got arrested.’