Boy tells jury he ordered knife ‘weeks' before stabbing fellow pupil to death
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.
Harvey Willgoose was stabbed during a lunch break at All Saints Catholic High School (Jacob King/PA)
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 defendant has admitted manslaughter but denies murder (Jacob King/PA)
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)?'
Tributes left for Harvey Willgoose at Sheffield United Bramall Lane football stadium in Sheffield (Jacob King/PA)
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.
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- BBC News
Harvey Willgoose death 'no less tragic' if teen cleared of murder
The death of a 15-year-old schoolboy is not "any less tragic or pointless" if the pupil who stabbed him is cleared of murder, a jury has been told. Harvey Willgoose died after he was attacked during his lunch break at All Saints Catholic High School in Sheffield on 3 February.A fellow student, who is also 15, is on trial at Sheffield Crown Court after admitting manslaughter but denying barrister, Gul Nawaz Hussain KC, told jurors on Friday that if they cleared his client of murder, "it doesn't mean Harvey's death is any less tragic or pointless". Mr Hussain said: "A loved son has lost his life, a family have been deprived of him. A family mourns him."Another boy of a similar age had admitted his fault and, whatever happens, will pay the price for it."The defendant has accepted responsibility for what he has done. He needs to pay a price, but that price must be a just one."He told the jury that a not guilty verdict to murder would be the just decision in this case, according to the evidence. 'Final straw' The barrister told the court the defendant had a "horrific home life" and suffered a "background of bullying".He said "all that was what came together" when he encountered Harvey and this was the "final straw".Mr Hussain added that his client had reason to fear he told the jury he wanted to make it "very, very, clear" that he was not "maligning Harvey or dishonouring his memory".He said: "We are not saying that Harvey was all bad or the defendant was all good. Nothing of the sort."He discussed evidence of Harvey's "association with football hooliganism", with one school record describing him as "extremely aggressive and threatening" and a social care record saying he "threatened aggression".A range of interactions have been described between the defendant and Harvey that morning, and Mr Hussain said: "The defendant wanted to avoid Harvey. He did not want trouble."However he described how, in a lesson just before the incident, Harvey had mocked the defendant and been aggressive towards the CCTV footage of the stabbing, Mr Hussain said it could be seen that Harvey was the "first one to make it physical".The barrister said his client thought it was an aggressive approach from Harvey and the fact that he stabbed him so hard, breaking one of his ribs and piercing his heart, was further evidence that he "lost control".He added his client was "so scared of being hurt, so frightened, so devoid of calm, that that boy had never ever felt this way in his life before".The barrister also pointed to how his client was heard to to say "you know I can't control it" by a teacher seconds after stabbing Hussain told the jury this was the "best piece of evidence that you all have as to why (the defendant) did what he did".He concluded his closing speech to the jury on Friday morning and the judge, Mrs Justice Ellenbogen, began summing up the evidence. Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North
The Independent
7 hours ago
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Death of Harvey Willgoose ‘no less tragic' if teen cleared of murder, jury told
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a day ago
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Harvey Willgoose's killer obsessed with knives since age of 13, court hears
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