The teenager told a court on Friday he did not want to go to school on the morning he killed Harvey Willgoose, also 15, because “I thought I was going to get hurt that day”. <\/p>\n
Flowers at Harvey’s funeral earlier this yearAuthor: Dave Higgens, PAPublished 38 minutes ago
Last updated 37 minutes ago<\/p>\n
A 15-year-old boy who stabbed a fellow pupil to death has told a jury he took a “scary-looking knife” to school that day “in case anyone tried to pull a knife out on me or try to hurt me”.<\/p>\n
The teenager told a court on Friday he did not want to go to school on the morning he killed Harvey Willgoose, also 15, because “I thought I was going to get hurt that day”. <\/p>\n
The defendant was giving evidence for a third day at Sheffield Crown Court, where he is on trial for murdering Harvey during the lunch break at All Saints Catholic High School in the city on February 3. <\/p>\n
He told the court he “ordered” the knife because “it was a scary-looking knife and, if I pulled it out, somebody wouldn’t try to pull out theirs”. <\/p>\n
Gul Nawaz Hussain KC, defending, asked the boy: “We know you took a knife to school with you that morning, why?” <\/p>\n
The defendant replied: “In case anyone tried to pull a knife out on me or try to hurt me.” <\/p>\n
Mr Hussain said: “Did you want to start any trouble that day?” <\/p>\n
The boy said: “No.” <\/p>\n
And Mr Hussain asked him: “Did you want to hurt anyone that day?” <\/p>\n
The boy replied: “No.” <\/p>\n
The barrister read a Snapchat message Harvey sent to the defendant before school that day, which said: “Is it beef I what”, which the boy said he read as meaning: “Is it beef or what?” <\/p>\n
Mr Hussain said: “Did you want beef with Harvey?” <\/p>\n
The boy said: “No.” <\/p>\n
The defendant explained to the jury of eight women and four men how he met Harvey after arriving at school on February 3 and Harvey said to him: “Is it beef between me and you?” <\/p>\n
He said he asked Harvey why he thought he had “beef” with him but Harvey just asked him about his injured hand. <\/p>\n
The boy said they then started joking about boxing and started sparring in the corridor. <\/p>\n
The defendant said Harvey was laughing and he told the jury: “I was thinking it was alright between me and him.” <\/p>\n
The boy said they parted with a handshake, but bumped into each later in the morning and Harvey said to him: “Watch where you are f**<\/strong> going,” in an angry way. <\/p>\n The defendant said he tapped Harvey on the arm and Harvey said: “Don’t touch me. I’ll actually juck (corr) you up.” <\/p>\n The boy said: “In Sheffield, juck means stab.” <\/p>\n He said Harvey was “angry in his face and said it quite angrily”, telling the jury: “I felt confused because we shook hands this morning.” <\/p>\n The defendant then described an incident in a lesson he had with Harvey just before the lunch break. <\/p>\n He said Harvey bumped into him and said: “I’ll smash you all over.” <\/p>\n The boy said he backed off but said to Harvey: “Do it then.” <\/p>\n He said Harvey told him: “I’ll batter you. Let’s take it outside.” <\/p>\n The defendant has told the trial how he had no problems with Harvey until an incident five days before the fatal stabbing, which led to the school going into lockdown. <\/p>\n According to prosecutors, two members of staff physically intervened in a dispute between two other students and the defendant had to be restrained as he tried to get involved. <\/p>\n The jury has been told it was the defendant’s claim that one boy had a knife that led the school to go into lockdown, although the police who responded never found a weapon. <\/p>\n The defendant said he was off school for the next two days because he was so concerned for his safety. <\/p>\n The jury has heard Harvey was not involved in the altercation but joined in a Snapchat group exchange over the following weekend. <\/p>\n The defendant described how these exchanges left him feeling even more scared but his father made him go to school on the Monday morning – February 3. <\/p>\n He said: “I got a bad feeling about going to school that day. <\/p>\n “I felt like something was going to happen.” <\/p>\n The jury has been shown CCTV footage of Harvey being stabbed in a courtyard at All Saints later that day. <\/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 last week, Mr Hussain 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 The defendant will continue giving evidence on Monday.<\/p>\n