Sheffield Crown Court has heard a statement given by the 15 year old murder suspect to police after Harvey’s death<\/p>\n
Harvey died after being stabbed at the All Saints Catholic High School in Sheffield on February 3Author: Dave Higgens, PAPublished 4 hours ago<\/p>\n
A teenager who stabbed a fellow pupil to death at their school told police he was “horrified at the outcome” and “all I did was protect myself”, a jury has heard.<\/p>\n
The 15-year-old boy accused of murdering Harvey Willgoose, also 15, made the comments in a statement given to police when he was interviewed after his arrest at All Saints Catholic High School, in Sheffield, on February 3, Sheffield Crown Court heard. <\/p>\n
A jury heard on Monday that the defendant made no comment to questions asked by detectives but supplied a written statement in an interview the day after Harvey died in which he said he brought the knife to school for his protection. <\/p>\n
Describing the incident during the school lunch break on February 3, the boy said in his statement: “Harvey came up to me. <\/p>\n
“He said ‘Do you want beef, I’ll have you this time’. I tried to shake his hand. He refused to shake it. <\/p>\n
“At that point I felt like he was going to attack me. <\/p>\n
“Obviously, all these threats had been made to me previously and at that moment I thought he was going to use a weapon or knife against me.” <\/p>\n
The defendant added: “Without thinking and instinctively I pulled out the knife I had in my pocket and thrust it towards Harvey. I did this in self-defence. <\/p>\n
“It was not my intention to cause him serious harm. <\/p>\n
“At that moment I felt it was me or him, I had to protect myself.” <\/p>\n
The boy continued: “I am horrified at the outcome. Never did I think anybody would lose their life. <\/p>\n
“I can’t imagine what Harvey’s family are going through. All I did was protect myself.” <\/p>\n
Earlier in the statement, the defendant explained to the police why he brought the knife into school “for my protection”. <\/p>\n
He described a previous incident after which he said he had been threatened, including by Harvey, and feared he would be “jumped” after school. <\/p>\n
The boy also said he heard that Harvey “carries knives”. <\/p>\n
The defendant said he had been off school following one incident in school five days before, which led to a lockdown, but did not involve Harvey. <\/p>\n
He said he returned to school on the February 3, saying in his statement: “I reluctantly returned but I accept I took a knife with me for protection and nothing more. <\/p>\n
“I had no intention to use it or any plan to cause serious harm.” <\/p>\n
The jury has been shown CCTV footage of Harvey being stabbed in the courtyard. <\/p>\n
The court has heard that the defendant, who cannot be named, has admitted manslaughter but denies murder. <\/p>\n
He has also admitted possession of a knife on school premises. <\/p>\n
Addressing the jury at the opening of the trial, Gul Nawaz Hussain KC, defending, said: “(The defendant) did not set out to kill or seriously hurt anyone. <\/p>\n
“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.”<\/p>\n