Teacher describes confronting teenager after he stabbed fellow pupil to death

Independent

10-07-2025

A jury has heard a teacher describe how she confronted a pupil waving a knife after he had stabbed a fellow student to death.
Carolyn Siddall's pre-recorded video interview was played on Thursday at the trial of a 15-year-old boy accused of murdering Harvey Willgoose, also 15, at All Saints Catholic High School in Sheffield on February 3.
Ms Siddall told officers how she became aware of a 'student disturbance' as the lunch break began.
She said: 'When I turned around there was a boy (the defendant) wearing his school uniform and a thin sort-of waterproof jacket. And, in his right hand, he had a knife which was more black than silver.'
She said: 'He had a stance that was sort-of quite open with his arms, and the knife was very visible.'
Ms Siddall said her colleague Rachel Hobkirk appeared and there were no other students between the two teachers and the teenager.
She said: 'He was waving the knife. But appeared to be saying 'I'm not gonna hurt anyone'.
'So I said to him 'just put the knife down'. And he waved it more.
'Rachel said 'just put the knife down'. And I believe we said that to him several times.'
Asked about her confrontation with the teenager, Ms Siddall said: 'I was not aware of anything he'd done with the knife and he seemed be saying 'I'm not going to hurt anyone'.'
She said: 'He did sort-of look as though he was listening to us. And that I felt there was a possibility that he might actually put it down.'
The teacher said that 'his body language was a bit sort-of jumpy' and he was 'a bit sort-of dancing'.
She said it was 'clear to see that it was a knife' as he made no attempt to conceal it.
Ms Siddall said the defendant's words gave her and her colleague 'the idea that it was a bit of bravado'.
She said: 'We didn't know, because we had no idea what had happened previously.'
And she added: 'He didn't appear at that point to be going to stab either of us.
'Whilst we thought he might put it down, it was very much in a weapon pose at that time.'
Ms Siddall said she then noticed the headteacher, Sean Pender, and assistant headteacher, Morgan Davis.
The jury has heard how Mr Davis got the knife from the defendant and Mr Pender took him to his office.
Ms Siddall said she began to move children to a safe place, turned round and saw a student on the floor.
She said: 'I opened the doors and could see that there was a lot of blood on the courtyard.'
The teacher said she radioed for the office to call an ambulance and also asked for a lockdown to be put in place, saying the students 'moved very quickly, very efficiently into the nearest rooms'.
The jury has been shown CCTV footage of Harvey being stabbed in the courtyard.
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.'