The mother of murdered 15-year-old Harvey Willgoose says she feels sorry for the teenager who stabbed her son to death at their school, as she believes he was “let down”.
But Caroline Willgoose said she also believes the 15-year-old – who was found guilty last week of murdering Harvey with a hunting knife at Sheffield’s All Saints Catholic High School in – needs to be “made an example of” when he is sentenced.
Ms Willgoose appeared on ITV’s Good Morning Britain on Monday and was asked by Richard Madeley: “What are your thoughts about the boy who did this?”
She said: “I feel sorry for him. Because I think he’s been let down. I think Harvey’s been let down.
“This shouldn’t have happened. There were so many red flags.
“They must have known what he was like when his mum said that he’d took an axe in to school.”
Mr Madeley asked Ms Willgoose what she believes the sentence should be when the defendant reappears at Sheffield Crown Court on 22 October.
She said: “I think he’s got to be made an example of.”
She also said she believes the judge should lift the order that guarantees the perpetrator’s anonymity due to his age.
Harvey’s sister Sophie said of the killer: “He’s a 15-year-old boy. We’d like to think that he didn’t want to murder Harvey.
“He’s just from a troubled background and services have let him down.”
She described the trauma of the six-week long trial and how watching the CCTV of her brother being stabbed will “haunt me forever”.
The women said they are campaigning for knife arches to be installed in all secondary schools and colleges.
Caroline Willgoose said: “I know it goes a lot deeper than that. But, let’s start somewhere, and then go into schools and educate children of the devastation, the pure devastation, of what this has caused.”
Ms Willgoose believes her son’s death could have been prevented, especially after the killer’s mother reported him having an axe.
The jury in the trial also heard how the school’s assistant head asked the defendant if he had anything on him which he should not hours before the murder, and the boy said he did not.
Ms Willgoose said last week: “If you have a reason to ask that child, you’ve got a reason to search that child.”
Asked about knife crime and the Willgooses’ campaign on the same ITV programme, justice minister Alex Davies-Jones said: “It is something that terrifies me.
“I don’t think anyone could have heard the testimony of Caroline and Sophie and not be moved.”
Ms Davies-Jones said Home Secretary Yvette Cooper is looking at the family’s proposals on knife arches.
She said she was “really keen” to examine the family’s experience of the criminal justice system.
Steve Davies, chief executive of St Clare Catholic Multi Academy Trust, said on Friday: “We think especially of Harvey’s family, loved ones and friends today. We cannot begin to imagine the immeasurable impact the loss of Harvey has had on them.
“Harvey was a much-loved, positive and outgoing pupil whose memory will be cherished by all who knew him. As a community we have been devastated by his death and we continue to think of him every day.
“Harvey’s death was an unimaginable tragedy for all, and one that understandably gives rise to a number of questions from his family and others.
“Now that the trial has finished, a number of investigations aimed at addressing and answering these questions will be able to proceed. We will engage fully and openly with them to help ensure every angle is considered and no key questions are left unresolved.”
