A 15-year-old boy has been found guilty of murdering fellow student Harvey Willgoose during a lunchtime knife attack at a Sheffield secondary school.
The brutal incident unfolded on 3 February at All Saints Catholic High School, where terrified pupils watched as Harvey was fatally stabbed in the heart.
The attack sent shockwaves through the school community, leaving classmates fleeing in fear, some even locking themselves in cupboards for safety.
Despite admitting to manslaughter, the boy denied murder. He claimed he had “snapped” after enduring persistent bullying and insisted he could not recall the moment he stabbed Harvey. But the jury didn’t accept that.
After more than 14 hours of deliberation, a jury at Sheffield Crown Court returned a guilty verdict for murder, with a majority of 11 to one.
Prosecutors said the boy had brought a hunting knife to school with clear intent. He “wanted to show he was hard” and “knew exactly what he was doing,” the court was told.
CCTV footage showed the teenager deliberately approaching Harvey during the lunch break. Prosecutor Richard Thyne KC told the jury it was likely an “act of retribution… to get back at Harvey for something.”
Just days before the fatal stabbing, the two boys had reportedly fallen out after siding with different friends in an unrelated dispute. But the underlying cause, according to the prosecution, ran much deeper.
“He had an unhealthy interest in weapons,” the court heard, with images on his phone showing him posing with machetes and hunting knives.
The boy also had a history of violent outbursts in school. Weeks before the incident, he had searched online for phrases like: “waiting for someone to swing so I can let out my anger.”
On the day of the attack, Harvey had told friends the defendant had been behaving suspiciously in science class, suggesting he was hiding a knife under his jumper. But Harvey didn’t take it seriously. He thought the boy was bluffing.
Then, just minutes into lunch, the teenager walked up to Harvey, who was chatting with friends in the courtyard. Witnesses said there was a brief altercation, he punched and shoved Harvey before drawing the knife and delivering a fatal blow.
One girl, who witnessed the stabbing, described the aftermath in stark terms: “We went inside to go and tell a teacher, but the teacher was frozen as well. She didn’t know what to do… People were running, screaming everywhere. It was, like, chaos.”
During the trial, the boy gave disturbing insight into his background. He spoke of enduring racist bullying and cruel remarks about a medical condition. His father, he said, was physically abusive and largely absent, while his mother suffered from mental health issues.
He claimed to have brought the knife for protection, believing he might get hurt that day. He also told jurors he thought Harvey might be carrying a weapon when he saw him with a hand in his trousers.
Gul Nawaz Hussain KC, representing the defendant, argued: “Tragically, Harvey was a combination of being the final straw that broke (the defendant) and the unintended face of a series of threats of violence and bullying he had suffered in recent months.”
He said the boy experienced a loss of control that day, one with “horrific and tragic consequences.”
But ultimately, the court decided that this was not a momentary lapse. It was murder. The teenager now faces sentencing for a crime that has left a school and a community devastated.
