A teenager who stabbed another pupil in school has told a jury he thought about ‘how I had been bullied for so long’ as he dealt the fatal blow.
The 15-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, claimed he cannot remember the moment he stabbed Harvey Willgoose, also 15, at All Saints Catholic High School in Sheffield on February 3.
Giving evidence about the attack today, he said he had pulled out a knife because ‘I was out of control in myself’ – and feared Harvey was about to stab him.
The teenager said Harvey told him ‘I will do you in and I will do you in proper this time’ seconds earlier, which left him feeling more scared than he had ever been in his life.
He has previously pleaded guilty to Harvey’s manslaughter by reason of loss of control following a ‘long period of bullying’, but is facing trial at Sheffield Crown Court accused of murder.
Jurors have heard the two boys fell out on social media over the weekend before the attack and, in his evidence, the boy has claimed Harvey threatened to stab him when they saw each other that morning in school.
They subsequently squared up to each other in a science lesson around an hour before the stabbing over the school lunch break.
CCTV played to the court showed Harvey approaching the defendant from behind as he walked out into the courtyard. He then appeared to push the defendant before the boy pulled out a knife and lunged at him, twice.
He collapsed fatally injured 49 seconds later.
Asked about the moment Harvey approached him, the boy said: ‘He looked angry, as if he was going to do something. He had one hand out and one hand a bit in his trousers around his waistline.
‘I thought he had a knife on him.’
Harvey Willgoose, 15, suffered a fatal knife wound to the heart when he was attacked in the school courtyard by another pupil, also 15, on February 3
The 15-year-old accused of Harvey’s murder has pleaded guilty to manslaughter, arguing that his actions that day were the end result of ‘a long period of bullying’
Harvey’s parents, Mark and Caroline, have attended every day of the trial at Sheffield Crown Court
The boy claimed he tried to defuse the situation by saying ‘my bad, just shake my hand’, but he said Harvey replied ‘no, f*** off’ in an angry tone as if he was ‘trying to get me scared’.
After pushing the defendant, he said Harvey told him ‘I will do you in and I will do you in proper this time’.
Gul Nawaz Hussain KC, defending, asked him: ‘What did you believe “do you” meant?’
‘Like, stab you,’ the defendant replied. ‘I thought I would get stabbed by Harvey.’
Mr Hussain asked: ‘What did you do?’
‘Pulled out a knife,’ the boy replied.
Mr Hussain asked: ‘Why did you pull out a knife?’
‘I was out of control in myself…I was out of control in my emotions and what I was doing,’ the boy said.
He claimed in the seconds before the stabbing he had thought about Harvey’s alleged threats, as well as a lockdown in the school a week earlier, when he told teachers he saw another pupil with a knife.
Mr Hussain asked: ‘What other things were you thinking about just before you stabbed him?’
‘How I had been bullied for so long,’ he replied.
Mr Hussain ‘How did that make you feel?’
‘Upset,’ the defendant said.
Jurors have heard that All Saints Catholic High School in Sheffield was placed into lockdown over a knife scare the week before the fatal stabbing
Harvey and the 15-year-old defendant had fallen out on social media over the weekend before the attack
The defendant previously told the jury he was so badly bullied he developed anger issues ‘I can’t control’.
He claimed that he was bullied over a medical issue at both primary school and secondary school, as well as suffering racist abuse.
Giving evidence today, he told the jury that he did not remember stabbing Harvey and only realised how badly he had hurt him when police came to arrest him at the school.
Asked how he felt now, knowing that Harvey died because of his actions, he replied: ‘Like I feel bad…and regret.’
But under cross-examination by Richard Thyne KC, the defendant then said he did not stab Harvey on purpose – and claimed it was an accident.
The prosecutor asked: ‘How is that an accident?’
‘I lost control of myself. I didn’t mean to stab…I didn’t want to stab,’ the boy replied.
The jury previously heard that Harvey and the accused became embroiled in a social media dispute on the weekend before the attack, relating to a row between pupils including the defendant on January 29.
On that occasion, he insisted he saw another boy in possession of a knife and the school was put into lockdown. The police were called but no blade was found.
The defendant was said to be ‘scared of going to school’ because of the lockdown. Harvey was not in school that day, but had expressed support on social media for a pupil with whom the defendant had a disagreement.
The defendant has admitted manslaughter and possession of a knife on school premises, but he denies murder.
There was an outpouring of grief following the killing of Harvey, with floral tributes left piling outside Bramall Lane football stadium
The coffin of Harvey Willgoose (pictured on the day of his funeral) was emblazoned with pictures of his beloved Sheffield United Football Club
Mr Hussain previously indicated to the jury that the defendant suffered a loss of control due to his history of being bullied, saying: ‘[The defendant] accepts what he did that day.
‘That is why he’s pleaded guilty to manslaughter. [He] did not set out to kill or seriously hurt anyone.
‘The defence say [his] actions that day were the end result of a long period of bullying, poor treatment and violence – things that built one upon another until he lost control and did tragically what we’ve all seen.’
The trial continues.
