Why Harvey's mum wants you to support her knife arch campaign as teen's killer is found GUILTY
“We need to change things,” the grieving mother of a teenager killed in a Sheffield school stabbing has said as she detailed her campaign to get knife arches installed in all schools.
15-year-old Harvey Willgoose collapsed and died a short time after being stabbed by a teenager in the courtyard of All Saints School in Sheffield, where both boys were pupils.
The teenager responsible for killing Harvey was found guilty of murder today at the conclusion of a five-week trial at Sheffield Crown Court.
The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had pleaded guilty to Harvey’s manslaughter, along with an additional charge, of possessing a bladed article on school premises prior to the trial beginning.
Jurors heard how the defendant was armed with the hunting knife he used to kill Harvey for several hours prior to carrying out the stabbing on February 3, 2025. He had secreted it under his school uniform, and was noted to have kept his coat on throughout the day, despite requests from teachers asking him to take it off due to wearing it inside being against school rules.
Deputy head Morgan Davis even asked the defendant if he had ‘brought anything’ with him to school, seemingly referring to weapons, and took no further action when the defendant lied and said he was not armed.
During his evidence, the defendant told jurors he bought both the hunting knife he used to kill Harvey, which had a serrated-edged blade - along with a knife based on one featured in the video combat game, Assassin’s Creed - online using a parent’s bank card.
Now, Harvey’s mum Caroline tells The Star what she makes of the decision not to search the defendant on the morning of the fatal stabbing, why she is committed to campaigning for knife arches to be installed in all schools - and what you can do to help.
Said Caroline: “Asking the child that did it in the morning: ‘Have you got a weapon on you’ and just to say ‘no’.
“If you've got a reason to ask that child, you've got a reason to search that child.”
She continued: “I want people to sign to get knife arches in all schools because this can't happen again.
“We know after all this that there are knives in schools…children knew all that and they were frightened.”
She is calling on people to support an online petition which now has in excess of 50,000 signatures, but needs to hit 100,000 in order for the matter to be formally debated by MPs in Parliament.
“We need to change things. I know it goes deeper than knife arches, but get knife arches in and then get us into schools educating kids of the devastation on both sides…where there’s no winners. There’s no winners here,” said Caroline.
Caroline also supports Fearless, an initiative similar to Crimestoppers aimed at children and young people, which allows people to anonymously make a report if they are concerned about someone they know having weapons.
Commenting on the dangers posed by knife crime, Caroline continued: It's a massive problem. Children tell me now, Harvey told us on that Wednesday [before he died], "This is why I don't go to school because children have knives in schools."
“He told us that on Wednesday. Children knew that there were knives in that school.
“And that's another reason why I've got another campaign that I've done. I've got posters for Fearless. It's like Crimestoppers for children and if they know someone's got a knife they can do it anonymously on a QR code.”
While Caroline has learned a lot about the extent of the problem in the six months since Harvey’s death, knife crime is not something which troubled her prior to that.
She said: “It's all brand new to me. It always happens to someone else.
“You think of it being like a gang culture thing which Harvey had nothing to do with.
“He just loved football, he loved life, he loved socialising.
“Like I say, it always happens to somebody else.”
Steve Davies, CEO of St Clare Catholic Multi Academy Trust, said: “We think especially of Harvey's family, loved ones and friends today. We cannot begin to imagine the immeasurable impact the loss of Harvey has had on them.
“Harvey was a much-loved, positive and outgoing pupil whose memory will be cherished by all who knew him. As a community we have been devastated by his death and we continue to think of him every day.
“Harvey’s death was an unimaginable tragedy for all, and one that understandably gives rise to a number of questions from his family and others.
“Now that the trial has finished, a number of investigations aimed at addressing and answering these questions will be able to proceed. We will engage fully and openly with them to help ensure every angle is considered and no key questions are left unresolved.”