php json decode array of arrays not working code example

Example: php json decode not working on array

//"[{\"name\": \"bill\", \"score\": 0.7948127388954163}, {\"name\": \"john\", \"score\": 0.782698392868042}]";
//for json in above format try this
$r=json_decode(stripcslashes(trim($response,'"')));