THE 15-YEAR-OLD boy who murdered Olly Stephens has seen his appeal to overturn his conviction thrown out.

Judges at one of the UK’s top courts heard how it was the ‘ultimate unfairness’ that the jury in the trial of the 15-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was not shown evidence about his Asperger’s syndrome diagnosis.

But the bench at the Court of Appeal emphatically dismissed the application as they deemed the boy’s condition had ‘no relevance’ to the circumstances of the incident.

Olly Stephens died at Bugs Bottom field in Emmer Green on January 3 after the 15-year-old boy, who was 13 at the time, stabbed him in the chest and in the back.

This came after 13-year-old Olly was lured to the park by a girl, then also 13, where he was ambushed by the boy and his older friend.

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Olly got into a fistfight with the older boy after they had a row about comments made on social media.

This triggered the younger boy -- who today appealed his conviction -- to stab Olly twice.

Olly tragically was pronounced dead at Bugs Bottom just more than an hour after the incident.

Following a trial in June and July 2021, both boys were convicted of murder and handed life sentences.

The girl was sentenced to five years in custody for manslaughter following an appeal.

The older boy was sentenced to a minimum of 12 years in prison, whereas the younger boy who fatally stabbed Olly was sentenced to a minimum term of 13 years.

At a hearing at the High Court today, defence counsel for the younger boy explained why the appeal to overturn the younger boy’s conviction had been brought forward.

Timothy Raggatt QC said: “Since the age of five, the boy has been known to suffer from Asperger’s syndrome, now described as ASD.

“He is susceptible to stress and pressure when he is in a noisy, frightening or exciting situation where his responses can be affected by such situations.

“We advanced to the judge [at the trial] that the jury should have known of that condition as it was a relevant matter in determining what his response might be in certain situations.

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“It separated him out from the average teenager.

“He had a condition which made him different.

“The judge found it was not admissible.

“We submit, for all the reasons set out in documents we have served, that was an incorrect decision.”

Mr Raggatt QC explained that presenting a psychiatric report outlining evidence about the boy’s Asperger’s may have helped prove the boy acted in defence rather than with intent.

Her Honour Judge Norton, who presided over the Reading Crown Court trial in July 2021, made an order excluding mention of the boy’s Asperger’s condition during the hearings, the Court of Appeal heard.

Commenting on this, Mr Raggatt added: “The total exclusion of the material in all respects was the ultimate unfairness.”

After a short break, Lord Justice William Davis, Mr Justice Griffiths and Her Honour Judge Walden-Smith returned to the courtroom to deliver their verdict on the appeal.

Lord Justice William Davis highlighted evidence from a psychiatrist who interviewed the boy, who claimed the 15-year-old knew he had Asperger’s syndrome, but ‘had no idea what this actually means.’

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The Lord Justice said: “The judge made it clear that questions about the boy's reactions to stimuli were permissible.

“She did not permit Mr Raggatt to adduce evidence from the applicant about his diagnosis.

“Mr Raggatt submits that limiting his questioning of the applicant created a crucial unfairness.

“Mr Raggatt submitted the diagnosis was part of the circumstances.

“We respectfully disagree. His submission is flawed. The diagnosis may have been relevant to the applicant, but it was not relevant to the issues the jury had to decide.

“The mere fact of the diagnosis took the jury nowhere.”

The Lord Justice said Her Honour Judge Norton was correct not to permit the psychiatric evidence from the boy’s doctor to be shown to the jury as the doctor’s report did not link the 15-year-old’s condition to the circumstances of the fight between him and Olly Stephens.

He also said it was ‘in part, incomprehensible’.

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Lord Justice Davis concluded by saying the jury should not have been burdened with evidence that was ‘not relevant’.

He said: “'In our view, at its heart, this was a straightforward case. He came to the scene with a knife. When he saw his friend getting the worst of it, he pulled out a knife and used it.

“Given the nature of the wounds, the jury clearly rejected his account.

“The fact he has Asperger's syndrome had no relevance and still has no relevance.

“There is no possible risk in this case the jury's verdict was unsafe.”

With these remarks, the appeal was thrown out and the boy’s conviction will not be overturned.

The hearing took place at the Court of Appeal on Friday, March 11.