A 15-year-old boy has told a jury he ordered the knife he used to kill a fellow pupil “weeks” before the fatal stabbing at their school.
The teenager was asked about the weapon as he gave evidence for a fifth day at his trial for the murder of Harvey Willgoose, also 15, at All Saints Catholic High School, in Sheffield, on February 3.
On Wednesday, the boy was asked by Richard Thyne KC, prosecuting, whether it was “days, weeks or months” before Harvey’s death that he ordered the knife online.
The boy said: “Weeks or months. I’m pretty sure it was weeks.”
He then said he thought it was “after January 16”.
The jury has heard about an incident in the school on January 16 when the defendant was involved in an altercation with another student and ended up repeatedly punching a wall in an inclusion room.
Mr Thyne asked the boy why he ordered the knife, and he replied: “For protection”.
The boy admitted he had pictures of “lots of different kinds of knives” on his phone and the prosecutor asked him why he chose that particular weapon.
The defendant told the jury: “Because it was a scary knife.
“Somebody would try and attack me and I would pull it out and they wouldn’t try and attack me.”
Mr Thyne asked him about a number of photos on his phone of him with this particular knife.
The boy said he posted two of them on social media.
The prosecutor asked: “To send a message out you weren’t to be messed with?”
The boy agreed and said he wanted some people to believe he carried a knife.
Asked by Mr Thyne if he wanted some people to believe he was prepared to use the knife, the defendant told the jury: “No. Not really. But, if they saw I had a knife, they wouldn’t really want to mess with me.”
The jury at Sheffield Crown Court has been shown CCTV footage of Harvey being stabbed in a courtyard at the school at lunchtime on February 3.
The court has heard that the defendant, who cannot be named, has admitted manslaughter but denies murder.
He has also admitted possession of a knife on school premises.
On Wednesday, the boy was asked by Mr Thyne: “Had you tried to provoke him (Harvey)?”
When the defendant said “no”, Mr Thyne asked him: “Had you tried to wind him up earlier in the day?”
The boy replied: “No, it was the other way around.”
Mr Thyne then asked: “Were you trying to get Harvey to do something to you so you could let out your anger?”
Again the boy replied “no”.
The defendant told the jury how he also bought another knife online, which was based on a design from the video game Assassin’s Creed.
Mr Thyne said: “Did you have a reputation for having an interest in knives?”
Th boy said: “Not really.”
He added: “That’s not what I’m known for.”
Addressing the jury at the beginning of the trial, Gul Nawaz Hussain KC, defending, said: “(The defendant) did not set out to kill or seriously hurt anyone.
“The defence say (the defendant’s) 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 defendant will continue to give evidence on Thursday.
