THE trial of the two teenagers accused of murdering Olly Stephens has now entered its third week.

The boys -- who are jointly accused of causing Olly’s death at Bugs Bottom field on January 3, 2021 -- both deny the charges.

Yesterday (Monday, July 12), defence counsel Timothy Raggatt QC, who represents the younger boy, presented a pathologist for questioning in the witness box.

The jury was set to hear from the elder boy today (Tuesday, July 13), but were dismissed after Judge Heather Norton and barristers needed time to iron out legal arguments.

The trial will continue tomorrow (Wednesday, July 14).

Before then, here is a recap of what happened in the second week of the trial.

Monday, July 5

The jury was not called as barristers sorted out legal issues.

Tuesday, July 6 and Wednesday, July 7.

In the morning of the 6th, the prosecution called Zoe Neville, a cardiac nurse, to give evidence.

She was the first person on the scene to attend to Olly after he was stabbed and gave her version of events of that day in January.

Having been walking around Bugs Bottom, she said she saw some boys fighting at the top of the hill.

Olly was "swinging his arm doing an uppercut thrust", while the other boy was "swinging with his left".

She heard a "metal ting sound" at the end of the fight.

READ MORE: Nurse who tried to save Olly's life recalls what happened on day of his death

She saw Olly and a boy walking up the bridleway following the fight, with Olly ‘staggering’ towards her.

Alison Morgan QC described Olly as "disorientated" and "refused help".

He then collapsed to the ground and Ms Neville attempted CPR on him.

Following Ms Neville’s evidence, pathologist Charlotte Randall, who carried out the post-mortem on Olly, was called to the witness box.

She gave evidence in the afternoon of the 6th and on the morning of the 7th.

She said the features of the stab wound to the teenager’s back were not consistent with the suggestion that he ‘stumbled’ into the blade, as put to her by Mr Raggatt.

She had earlier claimed that the wound was “pure”, which prosecution counsel Alison Morgan QC told the court meant the weapon “exited the body precisely through the entry point”.

READ IN FULL: Pathologist gives expert analysis of Olly Stephens' stab wounds

Later, Ms Morgan and her colleague Denis Barry demonstrated to the jury how Olly Stephens may have been stabbed after the younger defendant’s defence counsel claimed the 13-year-old received his second wound having ‘spun round’ following the infliction of the first injury.

With both of them on their feet in the Reading Crown Court courtroom, Ms Morgan jabbed Mr Barry with a ruler -- which she was using as a makeshift prop substitute for a knife -- to show how both wounds were inflicted from different directions.

The jury was shown 2D recreations of where the stab wounds were discovered on the 13-year-old’s body.

Dr Randall agreed with Ms Morgan’s claim that both stab wounds could have caused death separately as they were both life-threatening.

She added that both injuries would have been inflicted from “no more than moderate force”.

Concluding her evidence on the afternoon of the 7th, the prosecution wrapped up its case and the jury was dismissed for the rest of the afternoon.

Thursday, July 8.

Defence counsel Timothy Raggatt QC called his client -- the younger of the two boys -- to the witness box.

Throughout Thursday, Mr Raggatt questioned the boy about what happened in the days before, during and after the incident in which Olly Stephens was stabbed.

He told the court he had brought a vegetable knife with him from a bush opposite his house upon the request of an older boy, who is also accused of Olly Stephens’ murder.

The boy first spotted Olly at the top of a hill at Bugs Bottom and walked up the mound towards him.

According to the boy, he had issues with Olly because he ‘had been talking about me saying things I hadn't done'.

He claimed he expected a ‘fight’ with Olly and that he and the co-defendant were ‘going to make him say sorry and be done with it.’

Describing the fight between the elder defendant and Olly, the boy said it looked like Olly was ‘winning’ when he saw him ‘reach for his waistband.’

READ IN FULL: Everything the boy accused of fatally stabbing Olly Stephens said in court on Thursday, July 8

The boy said: “I remember Olly reaching downwards towards his waistband.

“[I thought] he was pulling out a knife. I've seen him with a knife a lot of times before.

“I jumped out and stabbed him in what I thought was the arm.”

The defendant claimed that after Olly had been stabbed, he punched the elder defendant again.

He added that the elder defendant pushed Olly who fell back on to him, and he was still holding the knife, henceforth causing the second stab wound.

Earlier in the day, the boy was asked about messages he had exchanged with a girl the day before he stabbed Olly Stephens.

The jury has previously heard that help had been sought from another girl to “set up” Olly but that she got cold feet.

READ IN FULL: Defendant's account of what happened in 'fight' with Olly Stephens

She said in one message, sent the day before the attack: “I feel like I’m part of a murder team.”

The younger boy is alleged to have replied: “Nah, it’s not a murder, just start tryna get close to him.” (sic)

Asked what these messages were about, the boy told the court on Thursday: “Obviously it wasn’t supposed to be a murder and it’s (the message) just about trying to get close to him because I wanted him to come out, I wanted to speak to him.”

On the same day, the court also heard how, according to the defendant:

Friday, July 9

The defendant was in the witness box again but this time he was quizzed by prosecutor Alison Morgan QC and Rossano Scamardella QC, who represents the elder defendant.

Mr Scamardella QC asked about the messages the boy sent to the girl and her response, which was that she 'felt like part of a murder team'.

The boy said: 'I didn't intend to kill him.'

The defence counsel suggested the elder boy never asked him to bring a knife, to which the boy disagrees and he says 'yes he did.'

Mr Scamardella suggested he brought a knife with him on his own accord.

'That's not true', the boy responded.

The defence asked why the boy said to a girl he stabbed Olly 'out of pure anger'.

Confronted about this message exchange, he said 'that's not why I did it.'

READ IN FULL: Everything the boy accused of fatally stabbing Olly Stephens said in court on Friday, July 9

He continued: 'At that point in time I was just angry at the whole situation. That's multiple lives ruined.'

Asked why he said he 'saw red' in messages to the girl, the boy replied: 'At that point I was just paying her lip service. I was just giving her an answer.

'I was giving her an answer so she would leave me alone.'

Following a lunch break, Alison Morgan QC began asking questions of the boy, starting with enquiries about why he had a self-confessed ‘interest’ in knives.

She suggested it was 'more than an interest' as he and his friends 'like to scare people with knives'. He denied this.

The boy was also quizzed about a previous conviction he had for a robbery in Caversham following an incident last year where he pulled a knife on a man and told him to give him his trainers.

Asked why he didn't question the elder's request to bring a knife, the boy said: "I just assumed Olly was going to have a knife.

'We weren't really talking about what we were going to do with it. He asked 'have you got the knife' and I said 'yeah''.

Before wrapping up her questions, Alison Morgan QC asked the boy to take a ruler and show the court how he took the knife and stabbed Olly.

He pulls it out of his right sleeve and says he jabbed with his left hand.

Ms Morgan quizzed how this was possible if he is right-handed. The boy said because the knife was in his right sleeve.

He then said: 'I moved one step closer to him and launched at his arm.' He made a thrusting motion with his left arm.

Discussing the stab wound to the back, Ms Morgan said: 'The truth is, that wound was a stab wound that went into Olly's back when he wasn't even facing you.

'You stabbed him when he had his back to you, didn't you?'

'I did not intentionally cause that stab wound', the boy responded.

The trial continues.

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