A PATHOLOGIST denied claims Olly Stephens ‘stumbled’ into a knife before he died in Emmer Green earlier this year, a court heard.

Dr Charlotte Randall, who carried out the post-mortem on 13-year-old Olly, said the features of the stab wound to the teenager’s back were not consistent with the suggestion that he ‘stumbled’ into the blade.

Two teenage boys are standing trial at Reading Crown Court charged with Olly’s murder after he was stabbed to death at Bugs Bottom field on January 3, 2021.

Rossano Scamardella QC, defence counsel for the elder defendant, quizzed Dr Randall over the defence statement the younger defendant’s legal team had given, where the ‘stumbling’ suggestion was made.

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Reading from the younger defendant’s statement, he said: “The defendant took his own knife from his sleeve and tried to stab the deceased’s upper arm and shoulder area.

“His sole intention was to defend [the elder boy] and bring the fight [with Olly Stephens] to an end.

“This appeared to him to be a reasonable and proportionate act on his part.

“The [elder] defendant and the deceased continued to fight.

“At one point the deceased stumbled backwards into the [younger] defendant.”

“He can only surmise that is how the injury may have been caused.”

Asked whether the features of the stab wound to the back were consistent with Olly having ‘stumbled’ back onto the knife, Dr Charlotte Randall said “no”.

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”.

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.

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With both of them on their feet in the Reading Crown Court courtroom, Ms Morgan jabbed Mr Denis 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.

According to the post-mortem report of Dr Randall, the stab wound to the back went through Olly Stephens in a forwards and upwards motion. The stab wound to the front went through the 13-year-old in a backwards and downwards motion.

Dr Randall said the suggestion of Olly having ‘spun’ into the knife was not put forward in defence statements.

Finishing her demonstration, Ms Morgan said: “The knife is going in completely different directions.”

Dr Randall was also called to give evidence on Tuesday, July 6.

In the discussion with Alison Morgan QC, she revealed her findings following the post-mortem, which took place two days after Olly’s death on January 5, 2021.

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

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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”.

Asked whether she was able to understand the defendant’s intention from the incident, she said: "I don't think it's possible to state the intention of the wounded area through pathology."

The pathologist later agreed with defence counsel Timothy Raggett that the wound to Olly’s chest was not indicative of “severe force”.

Dr Randall also did not content with Mr Raggett’s claim that the incident constituted a “dynamic scenario over a relatively short period of time with exchanges of blows.”

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He added: "A victim who would not have appreciated what would have happened to him and there was no sign what would have happened to any other protagonist."

Concluding her evidence on Tuesday, Dr Randall told the court: “'I can't tell whether the movement of the knife is deliberate or accidental.”

The trial resumed after Dr Randall was dismissed from giving evidence on Wednesday, July 7.

It is set to continue on Thursday, July 8.