16 July 2025, 13:50
Harvey Willgoose was fatally stabbed to death. Picture: Family handout.
Picture:
Family handout
A 15-year-old boy who stabbed a fellow pupil to death at school has told a jury that being bullied meant he got angry quickly and “I can’t control it”.
The teenager took to the witness box at Sheffield Crown Court on Wednesday, where he is on trial for the murder of Harvey Willgoose, also 15, at All Saints Catholic High School in the city in February.
He told the jury he was subjected to racist bullying on social media and taunts about a medical condition while he was at a number of Sheffield schools.
The defendant said the bullying has affected how he controls his temper and “I’m upset all the time”.
Asked by his barrister Gul Nawaz Hussain KC how this affected his temper, the boy said: “I can get angry quickly, upset quickly.
“I can’t control it.”
Mr Hussain also asked his client about social media.
The boy said he had been bullied online by “strangers” and by pupils at All Saints, including “racist bullying”.
The barrister asked him: “When bullying was happening on social media, did you feel you could get away from it?”
Read more: Boy, 15, admits killing teenager Harvey Willgoose at Sheffield school – but denies murder
The teenager took to the witness box at Sheffield Crown Court on Wednesday, where he is on trial for the murder of Harvey Willgoose, also 15, at All Saints Catholic High School in the city in February.
Picture:
Alamy
The boy said no.
When Mr Hussain asked him about the worst threat he had received on social media, the defendant replied: “Someone said, ‘I’ll stab you up’.”
He said he began to believe the threats and, when his barrister asked “how did that make you feel?”, the boy said: “Scared.”
The defendant stood in the witness box facing the jury of eight women and four men, holding a fidget toy and supported by an intermediary.
The jury has been shown CCTV footage of Harvey being stabbed in the courtyard at All Saints during the lunch break 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.
Addressing the jury last week, Mr Hussain 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.”
Police officers and floral tributes outside All Saints Catholic High School, on Granville Road in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, after 15-year-old Harvey Willgoose died following a stabbing incident at the school.
Picture:
Alamy
Richard Thyne KC, prosecuting, previously told the jury that after the stabbing incident, the defendant told All Saints’ head Sean Pender: “I’m not right in the head. My mum doesn’t look after me right. I’ve stabbed him.”
The prosecutor said the boy confirmed to Mr Pender he was referring to Harvey, and that he had stabbed him once or twice.
The prosecutor told the jury the altercation happened in a school courtyard just as the lunch break was starting.
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When playing CCTV footage to the jurors, Mr Thyne said: “It is shocking, but it is necessary to play it.”
The footage appears to show Harvey putting his left hand on the defendant’s right arm before the defendant pulls out a knife and stabs the teenager twice.
Mr Thyne said “other pupils fled in fear and panic” as the defendant went into the dining hall still holding the knife.
Staff members Carolyn Siddall and Rachel Hobkirk approached the boy as he “was dancing around on his toes and waving the knife around, although by this stage he seemed to be saying ‘I’m not going to hurt anyone’,” the prosecutor said.
He added: “They told him to put the knife down but he did not do so.”
Earlier, Mr Thyne told the jury Harvey was stabbed in the heart with a hunting knife which had a 13cm, serrated-edged blade.
Mr Thyne told jurors the defendant “admits that he stabbed Harvey causing his death” and “he also admits that the stabbing was not carried out in lawful self-defence”.
The jury has heard the defendant has admitted Harvey’s manslaughter, but denies murdering him.