A teenage boy accused of fatally stabbing a nine-year-old girl had been expelled from school hours before her death, a court has heard.

Aria Thorpe died of a single stab wound to her chest in her home in Weston-super-Mare on 15 December last year.

A 16-year-old boy, who cannot be named due to his age, is on trial at Bristol Crown Court charged with murder and manslaughter over her death, both of which he denies.

The court heard he would often get into trouble for being disruptive, but teachers felt he was "trying hard" a week before the decision was made to exclude him.

The defendant's mother said in a statement that on the day of Aria's death, she received a call from the school saying "they'd come to the decision that [the defendant] would no longer be attending".

"They would contact another school to put something in place," she said.

"I felt angry, the week before I was told he was trying hard," jurors heard.

The teenager's mother said she had confiscated his phone in response and told him: "I'm so disappointed with you."

But she added she had not seen a significant change in his behaviour as a result and he seemed calm.

The defendant's grandfather said he would "back chat" his mother but he was not aware of anything physical.

"We were exploring him [the defendant] joining the Navy," he said in a statement.

"He's not academic, he did silly impulsive things at school without thinking," he continued.

"I tried to get him into rugby, but he thought it was too aggressive," the defendant's grandfather added.

Aria was found face down on the floor of her home by Ollie Sheppard, who was temporarily lodging there, just after 18:00 GMT.

Emergency services stopped trying to resuscitate her at 18:58.

Her mother, Victoria Hull, said she had collected her daughter from an after-school dance class at about 16:30 and the last time she had seen her alive Aria had been eating mini-pizzas in front of the TV in the living room.

"Aria seemed bubbly and happy because she had a good dance class," Hull said.

The girl's mother then headed out to work at Pontins, where she was doing evening shifts to earn extra money for Christmas.

"[Aria] said something like 'see you after work mummy'. I replied 'see you after work, love you'," Hull continued.

She said she left work early when she realised people were trying to contact her and arrived home at about 19:20 to discover police at her house.

The defendant was arrested on board a train at Worle Railway Station moments before it departed.

In his police interview, jurors were told the defendant said "I don't know why I did it, it just happened."

He became emotional in the interview, the jury heard, and shook his head when asked if he knew he was going to stab Aria and whether he was angry at her.

He told officers the girl "said my name and fell to the floor".

He confirmed Aria could see the knife when he approached her and shook his head when asked if he checked on her and whether he made any efforts to call for an ambulance.

Asked why he left, he said he was "scared" and "shocked".

The trial continues.

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