Boy guilty of ‘pointless’ murder after stabbing victim, 18, through the heart

A boy who carried a Rambo-style knife to show others he was a ‘big man’ has been found guilty of murdering another teenager.

Charles Hartle was 17 when he stabbed Noah Smedley through the heart last December 28 with a knife he had hidden in his tracksuit bottoms.

Hartle was wearing a balaclava and ‘grinned or smiled before deliberately aiming for and stabbing him in the chest’, his trial heard.

Now aged 18, he has been found guilty of murder after a two-week trial at Derby crown court.

Hartle and his friends had arranged to meet Noah on the night of the murder in Ilkeston, Derbyshire.

Noah arrived riding an electric scooter and sold cannabis to the group, before Hartle turned on him and stabbed him in the chest.

Hartle ran away from the scene, meeting his girlfriend at a house party where witnesses saw him confess what he’d done and showed her the knife – which has never been recovered.

He then went to Derby city centre to distance himself from the crime scene.

Noah had been found injured in the street by members of the public at about 8.20pm, but he was pronounced dead shortly before 9pm.

In the hours after the murder, Hartle threw away his clothes, the knife, and his phone, before handing himself in to police.

In a prepared statement he said he had acted in self defence, claiming Noah was ‘about to lunge at me’ and he ‘instinctively lashed out’.

Detective Constable Emma Barnes-Marriott said: ‘Noah was an unarmed teenager, who was simply meeting with friends on the night Charles Hartle decided to end his life.

‘Noah did not threaten Hartle and showed nothing but friendliness towards him that evening, and yet he was brutally murdered.

‘Charles Hartle is a callous and calculating young man, who has shown no recognition or remorse for taking another teenager’s life.

‘He carried a knife with the intention to use it, over what appears to be a petty disagreement that only he was aware of, and a sense of bravado.

‘I’d like to thank Noah’s family for their support during our investigation and the trial.

‘No family should have to go through the ordeal of losing a loved one, especially at such a young age, and to have to relive their last moments at trial is an additional blow that Hartle could have spared them from.

‘Instead, despite overwhelming evidence, he remained silent and refused to take responsibility for Noah’s murder.

‘I know that nothing will bring Noah back but hope that today’s verdict has provided his family with some comfort that justice has been done.’

Hartle is set to be sentenced at the same court on August 22.

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