By Albert Tait
A schoolboy admitted he was “not right in the head” after stabbing another pupil to death with a hunting knife, a court has heard.
Harvey Willgoose, 15, died after he was knifed through the heart at All Saints Catholic High School in Sheffield on Feb 3.
Another 15-year-old, who has admitted manslaughter but denied murder, is alleged to have stabbed him “with such force” that the 13-centimetre serrated-edged knife “cut the bone of one of his ribs”.
The boy, who cannot be named, has also pleaded guilty to possession of a bladed article.
A jury at Sheffield Crown Court heard the boys “had been on good terms” and the defendant had previously asked a teacher “if he could sit next to Harvey in science classes”.
However, the pair argued on Snapchat, the social media platform, over the weekend before the stabbing.
Richard Thyne KC, prosecuting, said the argument had stemmed from a fight between two other pupils at the school the week before.
He said the defendant had tried to “get involved” in the dispute, which involved one of his friends, and had to be “physically restrained and removed by staff”.
The defendant insisted one of the boys had a knife, the court heard, resulting in the school being put into lockdown and police being called, although no knife was found by officers.
The incident became “a topic of discussion” in a Snapchat group which included Harvey and the defendant, Mr Thyne said.
He said it led to the pair “falling out” after they each sided with a different boy in the dispute.
The pair were described as arguing “non-stop”.
Although the messages could not be recovered, Harvey is said to have messaged “why would you start on my friend”, to which the defendant replied “if you want to have a problem we can have a problem”.
The pair were eventually kicked out of the group.
On the morning of Feb 3, Harvey and the defendant messaged each other privately, with the defendant saying, “if u wan (sic) beef we can hav (sic) it”, the court heard.
The court heard that both of the boys attended the school and interacted multiple times before the stabbing.
During morning break, the two pushed each other in a school corridor, and during a science lesson later they “squared up”, with one of them saying “come on, let’s take this outside”, the court heard.
The stabbing took place during the lunch break in a courtyard just outside the school cafeteria at around 12.15pm
The jury was played CCTV footage of the stabbing, with Mr Thyne saying: “It is shocking, but it is necessary to play it.”
Harvey’s parents, who attended the trial on Tuesday, stepped out of the public gallery while the footage was played. Other family members wiped away tears or covered their eyes.
‘Backs away’
Describing the footage, Mr Thyne said: “Harvey, who has his back to the camera, appears to put his left hand on (the defendant’s) right arm.
“(The defendant), who is facing the camera, then takes a knife out of his left pocket, passes it across to his right hand and then stabs twice at Harvey’s torso.
“(The defendant) advances towards Harvey, who backs away across the courtyard.
“(The defendant) returns towards where the incident began, gesturing towards Harvey with his knife, and appearing to shout at Harvey.
“Harvey runs towards (the defendant), but (the defendant) advances for a second time, bouncing on his toes, and still brandishing the knife. Harvey backs away.”
‘I can’t control it’
Mr Thyne said the defendant then walked back into the cafeteria “dancing around on his toes and waving the knife around” and was asked by teachers to put down the knife.
The defendant said, “you know I can’t control it”, which was described in court as “a reference to his anger issues”, before handing over the knife to a teacher, the court heard.
He is said to have then been escorted away by headteacher Sean Pender, who “placed his arm around (the defendant’s) shoulder and took him along the corridor to his office”.
Inside the office, the court heard, he claimed he was carrying a knife for protection and said: “I’m not right in the head. My mum doesn’t look after me right. I’ve stabbed him”.
Paramedics, who arrived less than 10 minutes after the stabbing, “found Harvey was not breathing, he had no pulse and there was a large volume of blood in his chest”, Mr Thyne said.
He said Harvey was formally declared dead at 1.24pm.
A post-mortem examination found the cause of death was a stab wound to the heart that caused “catastrophic internal bleeding”, the court heard. Harvey also suffered a second stabbing injury to his chest.
The defendant, wearing a white collared shirt, listened to proceedings from the dock alongside security officers and an intermediary.
At one point he glanced upwards to the public gallery where several members of his family were seated.
After his arrest, the court heard, he said in a written statement that the stabbing was “self-defence” as he feared Harvey was going to attack him with a knife, and felt “it was me or him”.
The defendant had “a significant history of becoming angry and using violence at school”, Mr Thyne said, having previously told a teacher to “shut up” after she gave him a detention, punched a computer monitor “so hard that it smashed”, and thrust a pupil “head first into a desk”.
At his previous school, the boy was also recorded to have used “physical violence towards other pupils and property”, he added.
Mr Thyne said the teenager had “an unhealthy and apparently longstanding interest in weapons”, with photographs recovered from his phone showing him posing with “hunting-style knives, a machete, a hammer and a baseball bat”.
His internet history showed searches for terms including “zombie killer knife”, “dagger”, “pocket knife”, and “machete”, he added.
In December, his mother notified the school after finding an axe in his bag, and a police officer spoke to him “about the dangers of carrying weapons”, the court heard.
Gul Nawaz Hussain KC, for the defence, told the jury: “[The defendant] did not set out to kill or seriously hurt anyone. The defence says his actions that day were the result of a long period of bullying, poor treatment, and violence.
“Things that built one upon another until he lost control.”
The trial continues.