A teenager who was jailed for murdering a 16-year-old boy has been found not guilty of raping a girl.

The verdict was returned on Thursday following a youth court trial at Suffolk Magistrates’ Court this month.

The boy, who cannot legally be named as he is under 18, was convicted of murdering Harley Barfield in November 2023.

Harley Barfield, who died after being attacked in Haverhill Harley Barfield, who died after being attacked in Haverhill (Image: Suffolk Constabulary)

The rape was alleged to have happened in October 2022, when they were both 15, but the boy denied the rape.

In December 2023 the killer was jailed for a minimum of 17 years for murder after being found guilty by a majority verdict.

It has been alleged that the boy armed himself with a kitchen knife and lay in wait for Harley, before confronting him in a “jealous rage” and trying to goad him into a fight near Strasbourg Square in Haverhill on January 9 this year. 

Harley was airlifted to hospital, where, despite the efforts of doctors, he died two days after the stabbing on January 11 as a result of a fatal wound to his heart.