She noted his “body language was a bit sort-of jumpy” and he was “a bit sort-of dancing”. The defendant made no attempt to conceal the weapon, making it “clear to see that it was a knife”.
Ms Siddall said his words gave her and her colleague “the idea that it was a bit of bravado” as they had no knowledge of what had happened previously. She added that whilst he didn’t appear ready to stab either teacher, “it was very much in a weapon pose at that time”.
Headteacher intervenes to disarm student
The teacher then noticed headteacher Sean Pender and assistant headteacher Morgan Davis arriving. The jury has heard how Mr Davis got the knife from the defendant and Mr Pender took him to his office.
Ms Siddall began moving children to safety when she turned round and saw a student on the floor. She opened the doors and could see “a lot of blood on the courtyard”.
Emergency response and school lockdown
The teacher immediately radioed for an ambulance to be called and requested a lockdown. She said students “moved very quickly, very efficiently into the nearest rooms”.
In another video interview played to the jury, headteacher Sean Pender described how he put his arm around the defendant and led him to his office after Mr Davis had secured the “dagger-style” knife. Mr Pender said he remembered thinking “he’s got a knife, he’s got a knife, I can see it clearly”, and not what he would call a little pen knife.
Defendant’s immediate confession to headteacher
The headteacher told officers the first words the defendant said to him were “I’m not right in the head” and immediately afterwards “my mum doesn’t look after me right”. At some point before they reached his office, the teenager said “I’ve stabbed him”, and when asked who, he replied “Harvey”.
Mr Pender said the defendant told him about the knife: “I’ve just brought it for my protection ‘cos I’m scared I’m gonna get jumped on the way home”. The headteacher noted the teenager never once said “how’s Harvey”, or “I’m sorry” or anything like that.
Defence claims bullying led to attack
The jury has been shown CCTV footage of Harvey being stabbed in the courtyard. The defendant, who cannot be named due to his age, has admitted manslaughter but denies murder and has also admitted possession of a knife on school premises.
Addressing the jury last week, defence barrister Gul Nawaz Hussain KC said the teenager “did not set out to kill or seriously hurt anyone”. The defence argues the defendant’s actions were “the end result of a long period of bullying, poor treatment and violence, things that built one upon another until he lost control”.
(PA) Note: This article has been edited with the help of Artificial Intelligence.