16-year-old fatally stabbed on hill during fireworks display in London

• A 16-year-old boy named Harry Pitman was fatally stabbed on Primrose Hill in central London during New Year’s Eve fireworks on Monday.
• The incident occurred just before midnight when Pitman became involved in a dispute.
• Another 16-year-old boy was arrested on suspicion of murder and is in police custody.

A 16-year-old boy was stabbed to death on a hilltop overlooking central London as crowds gathered to watch New Year’s Eve fireworks, police said Monday.

Harry Pitman was with friends on Primrose Hill just before midnight when he became involved in a dispute that turned deadly, Detective Chief Inspector Geoff Grogan said. Efforts to revive him failed.

“He was a young man with the rest of his life ahead of him,” Grogan said. “His family are understandably devastated.”

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A boy the same age was arrested on suspicion of murder and was being held in custody, police said.

Police officers conduct a fingertip search on Primrose Hill where a teenage boy died after being stabbed just before midnight on New Year’s Eve, in London, on Jan. 1, 2024. Harry Pitman, 16, was stabbed to death on a hill overlooking central London as crowds gathered to watch New Year’s Eve fireworks. (Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP)

Detectives were seeking information from witnesses who were among the hundreds of people gathered on the hill adjacent to Regent’s Park. It is surrounded by streets of wealthy homes and is also near several public housing towers.

The Royal Parks noted on its website that the hill historically was a place where duels and prizefights were once fought.

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The park typically closes at night, but it was scheduled to be open until 1 a.m. Monday to view the city’s fireworks display along the Thames River 3 miles to the south.

Primrose Hill was closed Monday as officers spread out searching for evidence in the grass and a forensics team worked near where the stabbing took place.