Harvey Willgoose told teacher: 'I don't come to school to fight' an hour before fatal stabbing
A 15-year-old boy stabbed to death at his Sheffield school told a teacher ‘I don’t come to school to fight’ in the hour before he was killed.
Harvey Willgoose was standing in the courtyard at All Saints Catholic High School in Sheffield, when a knife was thrust into his chest, penetrating his heart in an incident on February 3, 2025.
Harvey collapsed around a minute after being stabbed, and died a short time later.
Teacher Eleanor Kidder told Sheffield Crown Court today how she spoke to Harvey during the school period before the lunch time break.
Ms Kidder said Harvey appeared ‘irritated’ and ‘annoyed’ with the teenage boy accused of his murder, with whom he had an argument earlier that morning. The boy, who was also a pupil at the school, cannot be named for legal reasons.
“He [Harvey] said the defendant had made contact with his collar, and motioned that he had pretended to take something out of his trousers,” Ms Kidder told the jury of eight women and four men this morning (Wednesday, July 9, 2025).
Ms Kidder elaborated by saying she took Harvey to mean that the defendant had ‘pretended to remove something from his pocket’.
“How did Harvey seem?” asked prosecutor Richard Thyne KC.
Ms Kidder replied: “He seemed annoyed. He told me he thought there might be an altercation happening on that day, but he had been reassured by another student that everything would be calm.”
The jury has previously heard how Harvey and the defendant were embroiled in a social media spat in the days leading up to the teen’s death.
A message alleged to have been sent by the defendant on the morning of the fatal incident, February 3, 2025, reads: “If u wan beef we can hav it.”
Ms Kidder confirmed Harvey had ‘mentioned’ the social media exchange between the pair during their conversation.
When asked how Harvey appeared to ‘feel’ about his interactions with the defendant, she continued: “Irritated. He said he didn’t come to school to fight, so I didn’t think he came expecting that to take place, from what Harvey said.”
Ms Kidder said Harvey subsequently went out for lunch, and she agreed that she soon heard a ‘commotion’ taking place in the school.
The defendant has previously admitted carrying out the stabbing, and to Harvey’s manslaughter, but denies murder.
Mr Thyne continued: “Did you go down and when you went down, did you see the defendant standing with a knife, and being spoken to by a member of staff?”
“I did. The defendant was in the cafeteria, and I was above on the mezzanine looking down,” said Ms Kidder, adding that she was the one to commence lockdown procedures at the school.
A teenage boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, admits stabbing Harvey and his manslaughter, but denies murdering him.
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The boy has been on trial at Sheffield Crown Court since Tuesday, July 1, 2025.
The jury has heard how a lockdown incident at the school was triggered in the week before Harvey died, after the defendant claimed he saw a boy (Boy A) with a knife during an incident with another boy (Boy B).
This was in the midst of a physical altercation between Boy A and Boy B. The defendant was said to be on the periphery of the incident, but had to be removed from it by staff. No such weapon was ever found.
Following the incident, neither Harvey or the defendant returned to school until the day of the fatal stabbing.
Prosecutor Richard Thyne has previously told jurors Harvey was said to have taken the side of Boy A, while the defendant took the side of Boy B.
The defendant claims Boy A racially abused him, using a pejorative slur, in an incident on January 16, 2025, following which the two boys were involved in an altercation. The defendant is alleged to have pushed Boy A into a desk before punching a partition wall.
Following the opening of the prosecution case against the defendant, his barrister, Gul Nawaz Hussain KC set out the case’s key issues ‘from the defence perspective’.
He argued the defendant’s actions were ‘as a result of a long period of bullying, poor treatment and violence’.
“Things built, one upon another, until he lost control, and did - tragically - what we have all seen,” said Mr Hussain.
The defendant admits manslaughter, but denies murder.
The trial, which is expected to last for four weeks, continues.