Harvey Willgoose’s heartbroken mum Caroline had to watch the moments before her son was murdered in the corridors of his school, and described to the Mirror how frightened he seemed
Horrifying footage shows Harvey Willgoose was “frightened” of his killer before he was stabbed to death at his school, according to his heartbroken mum.
On Friday, the defendant, who cannot be named due to his age, was found guilty of murdering Harvey by a majority verdict of 11 to one. Harvey’s killer had admitted manslaughter and possession of a knife but denied murder.
A jury at Sheffield crown court took 14 and a half hours to find him guilty of murder and he will be sentenced in October. Following the verdict, members of Harvey’s family, including his grandparents, were heard shouting “yes” from the public gallery, before bursting into tears.
The schoolboy, who was also 15, was murdered just five minutes into his lunch break at All Saints Catholic High School as he stood in a courtyard chatting to a girl. Horrified children ran in terror as he was stabbed in the heart at All Saints Catholic High School on Monday, February 3.
The mum has found the Sheffield crown court trial unbearable and has spent a lot of time alone in a small room next door with a jigsaw to help distract her from the horrific detail emerging next door. The killer was given permission to play with fidget spinners as he sat in the dock listening to the evidence against him.
But there was no comfort for Caroline in courtroom one, unable to watch the CCTV of Harvey’s murder, repeatedly played to the jury. The only footage she could bear to watch was the encounters Harvey had with his killer in the corridors before he was murdered.
In the footage Harvey is seen confronted by his killer in the school corridor and is pushed at least four times forcing him backwards. Much of this time Harvey had his hands behind his back posing no threat to his murderer.
Caroline Willgoose, 51, told the Mirror: “When he’s goading him, Harvey’s just got his hands behind his back, then he’s got his coat in his hand and juice in the other, and then he just turns and talks to a girl. But I can tell that he’s frightened.”
Asked if she thought that his killer understood the magnitude of what he had done, she said: “I don’t know. When I’m in there, he does look at me all the time. And I hope that he does. But I don’t know.”
Harvey was stabbed twice by his killer with such force it pierced his heart. He was set upon in the school courtyard five minutes into the lunch break. As Harvey collapsed in a pool of blood, his killer went back into the school.
There a female teacher can be seen on CCTV urging him to put the knife down as he “bounced” and “danced” around with the knife.
Incredibly Harvey’s mum even has room for some compassion for her son’s killer, saying: “He’s very cocky [in court] but is that a mask? Because at the end of the day he’s 15 years old and he’s in this courtroom with all these strangers, these adults. Is it a mask? I hope it is. I hope he is sorry, but he hasn’t shown any remorse.
“I haven’t got any feelings for him. I feel like he’s been let down as well, really, if you listen to all the story. But I still want justice, I still want him to go away for a long time, I want him to be done for murder. He’s got to serve a long time in prison. “
His sister Sophie also watched proceeding in agony and during the trial posted on Facebook: “Today was one of the hardest days of my life. I had to sit in a courtroom just feet away from the family of the person who murdered my brother. I had to watch devastating CCTV footage of my brother being stabbed. Then trying to run away, not even realising he’d been stabbed… before collapsing to the ground.
“I had to see his killer parade around school with the knife, dancing and showing it off like it was something to be proud of. I had to watch hours of footage showing my brother being pushed around and tormented throughout the day.
“I saw him take himself into isolation, just trying to stay out of harm’s way. I had to sit there and cry in front of journalists, in front of strangers, completely broken. I had to watch his murderer sit there with no remorse whatsoever. I had to look at a pool of my brother’s blood on the screen — something no sibling should ever have to see.
“We had to listen as the police revealed that the boy who killed my brother had an obsession with weapons… had photos of himself posing with knives and weapons. How was this ever allowed to continue?
“This post isn’t for sympathy. It’s a post to show that knife crime is real, and it has a devastating impact on everyone involved. The Willgoose family will never be the same again. ”