Harvey Willgoose trial: School murder accused tells prosecution: 'I didn’t intend no harm to him'
A boy accused of murdering a fellow pupil has maintained his account that he ‘can’t remember’ the stabbing, as prosecutors suggested he is attempting to ‘twist things’ and ‘cannot bring himself to admit what he had really done’.
The defendant denies murdering Harvey Willgoose in a stabbing at All Saints School, Sheffield on February 3, 2025.
15-year-old Harvey suffered two stab wounds, including a fatal one to his heart. The defendant, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has previously pleaded guilty to manslaughter and to possessing a bladed article on school premises.
He has previously told the jury of eight women and four men that he cannot remember carrying out the stabbing, or the immediate aftermath, and claims to have ‘lost control’ of his actions.
During the sixth day in the witness box today (Thursday, July 24, 2025), the defendant was shown CCTV of the incident which led to Harvey’s death.
The footage was played several times, both in real time, and in slow motion, as prosecutor Richard Thyne KC took the defendant through his actions during the stabbing, step-by-step.
Prosecutor Richard Thyne KC asked him: “The prosecution case is you hadn’t lost control of your actions but you’d worked yourself up into a rage about Harvey...what do you say?
The defendant replied: “Well, I did lose control.”
Continued Mr Thyne: “The prosecution case is you got yourself worked up in anger and rage about Harvey,” to which the defendant replied: “I didn’t get myself worked up over Harvey.”
“The prosecution case is what we can see [in the video] is controlled aggression by you,” Mr Thyne said.
“It wasn’t controlled,” replied the defendant.
The defendant also denied ‘making Harvey angry’ by ‘provoking’ him earlier on in the day.
Mr Thyne referred the defendant to evidence previously provided by forensic pathologist Dr Philip Lumb concerning Harvey’s post-mortem examination, in which he said the fatal stab wound was inflicted with ‘severe force,’ and cut through Harvey’s fifth rib.
Mr Thyne said: “You’ve watched now what you did, and you say you can’t remember it.”
“You know yourself best, what kind of harm do you think you intended?”
Replied the defendant: “I didn’t intend no harm to him.”
“Are you saying you can’t remember the stabbing because you don’t want to tell jury the real answer,” continued Mr Thyne, to which the defendant replied: “No.”
Mr Thyne took the defendant through the statement provided by All Saints headteacher Sean Pender. Mr Pender told police that in the wake of the stabbing he took the defendant away to his office, in the moments after assistant headteacher Morgan Davis confiscated the knife from him.
Mr Pender alleges the first words the defendant said to him were: ‘I’m not right in the head’; immediately followed by: ‘my mum doesn’t look after me right’.
When asked if he told Mr Pender ‘I’m not right in the head,’ the defendant replied: “I did not say that, but I said something similar.”
Mr Thyne reminded the defendant that Mr Pender’s statement forms part of the ‘agreed evidence,’ meaning it has been agreed by his lawyers, before asking him what he believes he said.
The defendant replied: “My head’s not right.”
“Are you trying to twist things now,” continued Mr Thyne.
“No,” replied the defendant.
Mr Thyne also asked the defendant about the part of Mr Pender’s evidence, in which he claims the defendant told him ‘I’ve stabbed him’. Mr Pender said that when he asked the defendant how many times he stabbed Harvey, he said ‘once’ before pausing and saying ‘twice’.
“This is the stabbing that you say you can’t remember, but were you the only person who really knew how many times you stabbed him,” said Mr Thyne, to which the defendant replied: “No.”
“Did you give that answer because you remembered exactly what you’d done?”
The defendant replied: “I didn’t remember because it was in the moment, and it was like three minutes after I stabbed Harvey.”
Mr Thyne continued: “And can you just not bring yourself to admit to the jury what you had really done...That you deliberately stabbed Harvey?”
“I didn’t intend to stab Harvey,” replied the defendant.
Continued Mr Thyne: “And did you intend to cause him really serious harm?”
The defendant replied: “I didn’t intend nothing.”
Following re-examination from his barrister, Gul Nawaz Hussain KC, the defendant has now concluded his evidence to the jury.
The defendant has previously described the years of bullying he has experienced throughout his time at school.
The defendant said that - along with difficulties in his home life - has led to him developing anger issues he cannot ‘control’.
The trial continues.
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