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Grinning teen who was ‘fascinated’ with knives gets life sentence for fatal stabbing | UK | News

amedpostBy amedpostAugust 22, 2025 News No Comments5 Mins Read
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Charles Hartle

Charles Hartle has been handed a life sentence (Image: Derbyshire Live / BPM Media)

A balaclava-wearing teenager who grinned as he fatally stabbed an 18-year-old man through the heart with a Rambo-style knife has been detained for a minimum of 20 years. Charles Hartle, who the court heard had an 17 when he carried out the “utterly pointless killing” of Noah Smedley on a dark street in Ilkeston, Derbyshire, on the evening of December 28 last year, with a blade he had hidden in his tracksuit bottoms.

Hartle, also known as Charlie, of Station Road, Stanley, was convicted of murdering Mr Smedley last month after a two-week trial at Derby Crown Court. Sentencing the now 18-year-old to be detained for life at His Majesty’s pleasure at the same court on Friday, Judge Shaun Smith KC said Mr Smedley’s murder was “yet another reminder of the dreadful epidemic of knife crime”.

Read more: Tragic ice cream seller, 41, stabbed to death in park named

Read more: Dad stabs armed intruder to death after gang bursts into his home with crowbar

The defendant, who appeared in the dock wearing glasses, a dark suit and a white shirt and bit his nails, showed no emotion as he was sentenced for the killing.

Prosecution counsel Adrian Langdale KC told the hearing Hartle had an “unhealthy fascination with knives, the use of knives and an obsession with gang culture”, and said concerns had been raised about him possessing weapons and drug dealing by his family and his school when he was as young as 12 or 13.

Hartle, who went by the nickname of Lil Cee, had written violent rap lyrics boasting about knives and stabbing his opponents and posed on social media with weapons.

The court heard that as Hartle moved towards Mr Smedley after a drug deal on December 28, he “grinned or smiled before deliberately aiming for and stabbing him in the chest”.

Hartle and his friends had arranged to meet Mr Smedley, who arrived at the scene on an electric scooter and sold them cannabis.

Mr Langdale said the defendant regularly carried a Rambo-style knife for “the kudos and bravado” and to show others he was a “big man”.

Hartle went to meet his girlfriend at a house party after stabbing Mr Smedley in the heart.

Derbyshire Police said witnesses at the party reportedly saw him confess to her what he had done and produce the knife, which has never been recovered.

CCTV shows moments leading up to Ilkeston teen's fatal stabbing

The moment of Charles Harte’s arrest (Image: Police handout)

Mr Smedley was found by members of the public in the street at around 8.20pm and was pronounced dead just before 9pm.

In the hours after the murder, Hartle disposed of his clothing, the knife, and his phone, before eventually handing himself in at Ilkeston police station.

In a prepared statement given to police, Hartle said he accepted inflicting the injury on Mr Smedley but claimed he had acted in self-defence.

He said: “There is a history to this, and Noah and I did not get on. He has, in the past, made numerous threats to me and made disparaging comments. He has threatened me with violence.

“I was petrified that he was about to lunge at me. In that split second, I instinctively lashed out with the knife I had, in self-defence.”

He chose not to give evidence at his trial.

Peter Joyce KC, defending Hartle, told the sentencing hearing his client had been exploited by older males and was deemed eight weeks before the murder to be a victim of modern slavery.

CCTV shows moments leading up to Ilkeston teen's fatal stabbing

CCTV shows moments leading up to Ilkeston teen’s fatal stabbing (Image: Police handout)

He said: “He was exploited by older males in and around Derbyshire, often made to sell drugs, and much of his troublesome behaviour stems from this.

“He has been enslaved under the evil influence of others.

“Throughout his entire teenage years until he committed this offence when he was 17, the authorities knew about him and the authorities did precisely nothing.

“Nothing was done by the local authority, the police, the education authority to prevent what happened. This was a very, very troubled child.”

Mr Joyce said Hartle had “gone off the rails” soon after the death of his mother when he was 11, but he had shown “a genuine remorse and regret not just for himself but for Noah”.

Judge Smith told Hartle the violent lyrics he had written, including a rap containing the line “to the opps that are wearing vests, for f*** sake let me just shank your heart”, indicate a “very alarming side to you”.

Derbyshire

Officers guard a police cordon on Heanor Road in Ilkeston after the fatal stabbing (Image: BPM MEDIA)

He said: “Your music and lyrics boasted of being an experienced drug dealer and your affiliation with a gang. They demonstrated an obsession with carrying lethal weapons to kill or maim others.”

He added: “Only you know the true reason why you stabbed Noah, others can only speculate.

“There was evidence during the trial of your fascination with knives, particularly with the gruesome type you stabbed Noah with.

“You delivered the single fatal blow, no provocation, no hesitation, straight into the heart and out again.

“I have no doubt that you were carrying the knife for your own protection, but you were more than willing to produce it and use it.”

In a statement after Hartle’s sentencing, Mr Smedley’s family said: “Noah was a beloved member of our family and community, and his loss has left an unfillable void in our lives.

“He was a shining light, full of love, laughter, and joy, and his memory will continue to inspire us.

“We are heartbroken that he is no longer with us, but we take comfort in knowing that his memory will live on in our hearts.”

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