A schoolboy accused of murder stabbed his fellow pupil with such force that he completely severed one of his ribs, a pathologist told Sheffield Crown Court today.
The 15-year-old defendant, who cannot be named, allegedly knifed Harvey Willgoose, also 15, twice in front of other pupils at All Saints Catholic School in Sheffield on February 3.
Home Office pathologist Dr Philip Lumb told the jury one wound penetrated 8cm into Harvey’s chest.
The injury completely severed his fifth rib and nicked the rib below before puncturing his heart.
Dr Lumb said police showed him a 13cm long knife before he conducted the post-mortem examination.
He agreed this weapon was capable of causing the fatal injury and showed “severe force” was used.
“In this case, we have the full thickness of the bone of a rib being cut through,” Dr Lumb said.
“Bone is a very hard substance. It’s very difficult to cut, even when using a sharp knife.”
“And that is a marker of the use of severe force.”
The jury was previously shown CCTV footage of the fatal incident during lunch break.
Prosecutor Richard Thyne KC said the footage shows Harvey putting his hand on the defendant’s arm during an altercation.
The defendant then “takes a knife out of his left pocket, passes it across into his right hand, and then stabs twice at Harvey’s torso.”
Shortly afterwards, Harvey is seen running towards the defendant.
The accused moves towards him again while “bouncing on his toes, still brandishing the knife,” jurors were told.
The defendant then strode into the school’s dining hall while pupils “fled in fear and panic.
Teacher Thomas D’angeli told the court he heard “knife, knife” on his radio and “sprinted” to the scene.
He passed children who were “screaming and running away.”
Mr D’angeli found assistant head Morgan Davis with the defendant, who was “angry, upset, aggressive, but he was compliant.”
The teacher heard the boy tell Mr Davis: “I told you, I knew it, I lost it.”
Staff members Carolyn Siddall and Rachel Hobkirk approached the defendant in the dining hall.
He was “dancing around on his toes and waving the knife around,” the prosecutor said.
By this stage he was saying “I’m not going to hurt anyone,” according to testimony.
The court heard the defendant eventually gave the knife to Mr Davis.
He then told headteacher 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 he was referring to Harvey and had stabbed him once or twice.
While waiting for emergency services, the defendant told Mr Pender he was carrying the knife “for protection.
As Mr Davis told him to hand over the knife, the defendant said: “You know I can’t control it.”
Mr Thyne said the teacher took this as a reference to his anger issues.
The teenager has admitted manslaughter and possessing a knife on school premises, but denies murder.
The court heard about previous incidents involving the defendant at the school.
Five days before the stabbing, staff physically intervened in a dispute between two other students.
The defendant tried to get involved and “had to be physically restrained and removed by staff.”
This incident on January 29 led to the school going into lockdown.
Harvey, who was not at school during this incident, texted his father saying “am not going in that school while people have knives.
The incident led to Harvey and the defendant falling out in a Snapchat group.
Each sided with one of the boys involved in the initial dispute, who had been suspended.
In one message on February 1, Harvey sent the defendant his address.
He told him that if he had a problem “you got my Addy I’ll deal with it simple.”
Mr D’angeli said he saw both boys on the morning of the stabbing.
Harvey, who had been having attendance problems, came to tell him he was in school.
They discussed a new coat Harvey had bought, and he told the teacher: “I’m going to be coming in, sir.”
When asked if Harvey appeared to be in good spirits, Mr D’angeli agreed that he did.
The teacher also saw the defendant that morning seeking assurances another boy was not in school.
The defendant appeared calm and the teacher had no concerns about him.
Defending KC Gul Nawaz Hussain told the jury 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,” he said.
These things “built one upon another until he lost control and did tragically what we’ve all seen.”
The trial is taking place before a jury of eight women and four men.
The defendant sat in the glass-fronted dock wearing a white shirt with no tie.
He was flanked by several adults, including an intermediary.
Harvey’s death on February 3 devastated the Sheffield community and sparked anti-knife crime marches.
His family described him as “a best friend to all” whose smile “would light up the room.”
Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the death “horrific and senseless” during Prime Minister’s Questions.
The trial continues.
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