A 15-year-old boy who murdered fellow pupil Harvey Willgoose during a school lunch break faces sentencing today. The defendant stabbed the 15-year-old in the heart with a hunting knife at All Saints Catholic High School in Sheffield on February 3.
Sheffield Crown Court heard how other pupils fled "in fear and panic" after witnessing the fatal attack, with some locking themselves in a school cupboard. The jury was shown CCTV footage revealing Harvey was stabbed twice, with one blow cutting through his rib and piercing his heart.
The defendant was found guilty of murder in August and will appear before Mrs Justice Ellenbogen, who will also decide whether to lift his anonymity. Court proceedings revealed the attacker told headteacher Sean Pender immediately after the stabbing: "I'm not right in the head. My mum doesn't look after me right."
Background to the attack
The fatal incident followed tensions that developed five days earlier on January 29. The defendant had tried to intervene in an altercation between two other boys and was restrained by a teacher.
When the defendant claimed one of the boys had a knife, the school declared a lockdown and called police, though no weapon was found. Harvey was absent that day and remained off school for the rest of the week, texting his father: "Am not going in that school while people have knives."
Over the weekend before the Monday attack, Harvey and the defendant fell out on social media, each supporting different boys from the earlier incident. Assistant head Morgan Davis took the knife from the defendant after the stabbing and heard him say "you know I can't control it", which the teacher interpreted as referring to anger issues.
Defence and family response
The defendant's barrister Gul Nawaz Hussain KC told the jury his client had "snapped" after years of bullying and "an intense period of fear at school". The court heard the boy carried the knife for protection, believing other teenagers were armed.
Images and videos found on the defendant's phone showed him posing with knives and other weapons. Internet search history revealed he had looked up weapon-related terms online.
Since Harvey's death, his family has campaigned against knife crime with particular focus on installing knife-arches in schools. His sister Sophie Willgoose said after the conviction: "Harvey was full of life, warm, funny and caring with a unique ability to bring people together. He was deeply loved by his family, cherished by his friends, and respected by all who knew him."
She added: "This tragedy has not only devastated our family, but has rippled across the country. People everywhere continue to grieve the loss of our beautiful boy."
Sources used: "PA Media" Note: This article has been created with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
