An 18-year-old Leeds teenager has pleaded guilty to murdering 16-year-old Chloe Watson Dransfield after fatally stabbing her five times in a pre-planned fight over a boy.
Leeds Crown Court heard that Chloe Watson Dransfield was attacked by 18-year-old Kayla Smith after going to Smith’s home with her boyfriend, 18-year-old Blake Dowling, in the early hours of 28 March. Smith had previously pleaded guilty to manslaughter while denying murder, before changing her plea to guilty to murder on Thursday 12 November 2026—the second day of her Crown Court trial.
Co-defendants Blake Dowling, 18, who took Chloe to the house in Kennerleigh Avenue in Austhorpe, east Leeds, and Archie Rycroft, 20, who followed Smith to the fight, are also charged with murder and manslaughter, and their trial is continuing after both entered not guilty pleas.
The trial judge, Mr Justice Cavanagh KC, confirmed he will sentence Smith once the trial concludes, telling her that the only sentence he can impose is life imprisonment, though he will determine the minimum term she must serve in custody.
Earlier in the trial, jurors heard that Dowling had been in a relationship with both Chloe and Smith and “knew of the bad feeling between the two females”, while Dowling’s mother told the court that Smith was “jealous and obsessed” over her son’s relationship with Chloe.
Prosecutors outlined that Chloe and Smith had argued the previous evening, during which Smith threatened to “stab her” several times. Just before the fatal attack, Dowling was with Chloe and spoke on the telephone to Smith, who was at her grandfather’s house in Austhorpe with Rycroft.
Giving evidence on Thursday 12 November, a friend of Chloe’s who was on FaceTime with her that night said she heard Dowling answer his phone and heard Smith screaming: “Blake, I’m gonna smash your head in…you better not be with no girls…Chloe better not be there.” When Chloe confirmed she was there, the witness heard Smith say: “I’m gonna stab you in your throat.”
The two girls agreed to fight, and Dowling booked a taxi to take Chloe to Smith’s home. On the way to the house, Chloe told her friend she was “off to get the fight that I’ve wanted for ages”, with the witness telling the court she believed the fight would involve “just themselves, nothing else”, meaning no weapons.
The court was shown CCTV and video doorbell footage capturing Smith emerging from the annexe in her grandfather’s garden holding a knife. Rycroft followed Smith as she left the property to confront Chloe, with CCTV appearing to show him filming her. Smith was heard shouting “come on big girl” before running back to the annexe with Rycroft following the stabbing. Chloe, who suffered five stab wounds to the neck and back, bled to death.
Prosecutor Mark McKone KC told the jury that Rycroft is accused of murder “by walking with Kayla Smith to the fight and by trying to film Kayla Smith using violence and by providing support to her, if needed”, adding that Dowling knew Smith wanted to stab Chloe and by booking the taxi “played a part in organising the violence, assisted and encouraged Kayla Smith by taking Chloe to the scene for the purpose of fighting”.
In CCTV footage recorded one minute after the stabbing at 5.12am, Smith is seen with Rycroft and her grandfather outside the annexe. When Smith’s grandfather said he was going to call police, Smith replied: “You can’t ring the police, she’s dead.” Her grandfather telephoned for an ambulance 37 minutes after the stabbing and was seen by a neighbour performing CPR on Chloe on the footpath, before paramedics took her to hospital where she was pronounced dead at 6.40am.
When police arrested Smith and Rycroft, prosecutors said the pair were “laughing and joking” with two friends and using nitrous oxide in front of officers. Dowling denies knowing that Chloe would be caused really serious harm, while Rycroft claims he followed Smith out of curiosity and did not see that she had a knife.
Under the Contempt of Court Act 1981, active criminal proceedings in the ongoing trial of Blake Dowling and Archie Rycroft remain strictly protected against prejudicial commentary, and both co-defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty by the jury.
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