A teenager was “acting like he had a knife” under his school jumper shortly before stabbing another boy to death during their lunch break, a court has heard.
Harvey Willgoose, 15, died after he was stabbed by another 15-year-old at All Saints Catholic High School in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, on February 3.
On Friday a trial at Sheffield Crown Court heard the boy accused of murdering Harvey had gestured towards him, indicating he had a knife under his jumper, that morning.
In a pre-recorded video interview played to jurors, another pupil at the school said that after their morning lessons he talked to Harvey, who said the defendant had been pushing something inside his jumper that morning.
The boy said: “What I’ve heard from Harvey is, during science, is that (the defendant) was going like this, pretending like he’d got a knife, I don’t know where it was.”
The witness showed police how Harvey had mimicked the defendant pointing at something through his jumper.
He said this happened “during science” but did not know if it was in or out of the lesson.
He said Harvey “wasn’t happy” and had told him: “If he tries anything I’ll hit him, I’ll smash him all over”.
The witness told officers “(Harvey) said (the defendant) was acting like he had a knife. I don’t think he was certain he had one. He said: ‘If he comes at me I’ll hit him’.”
The boy said he walked away from the conversation and was telling two friends what he had just heard, when he looked to his left and saw Harvey and the defendant “go into each other”.
He told officers he heard someone shouting “what, what, what” and then saw the defendant stab Harvey.
The witness said the defendant “looked angry” and described running for help when he saw blood coming out of Harvey’s stomach or chest.
He said: “Harvey clutched his side and shouted ‘help’. His jumper was turning red.
“There was like blood dripping out of his trousers and he was still clutching his side but he was going back and back towards me.
“He turned towards me and that’s when I ran.”
The boy said: “I had seen blood come out of Harvey so then I ran straight away to find some help, I knocked on doors trying to find a teacher. I went all the way round and came back.
“I’d seen him on the floor, and then we’d been escorted out to the classroom. In the classroom I was still looking at him on the floor.”
Jurors were also played bodyworn camera footage from a police officer who went to the defendant’s house a month before the fatal attack, after his mother found an axe in his sports bag and contacted the school.
During the conversation the defendant denied that it was his axe, and said he did not know how it got into his bag, while his mother said she “wanted a full investigation”.
He also denied that he was in fear for his life when asked by the officer, who told him: “Carrying weapons to protect yourself is the most stupid thing you can do, because you are almost guaranteed to be seriously hurt or killed if you carry a weapon.”
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.
Addressing the jury last week, 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.”
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