Bailey Gwynne: Concerns raised about killer at primary school

Bailey Gwynne who died after being stabbed by another teenager at Cults Academy in Aberdeen. Picture: PA

Bailey, 16, died from a knife wound to the chest at Cults Academy, Aberdeen, on 28 October last year.

A 16-year-old youth, who cannot be named for legal reasons, admitted fatally stabbing him but had denied murder. He was convicted of culpable homicide after a jury ruled against a charge of murder at Aberdeen High Court.

Last night it emerged concerns were raised about the youth when he attacked another pupil with rocks at primary school. The victim was taken to hospital with concussion and the incident was reported to both the police and the city council.

Yesterday, it took the jury of seven men and eight women less than two hours to reach a majority verdict after hearing five days of evidence. The court earlier heard how a row over a biscuit turned into a fist-fight before Bailey was fatally stabbed.

Defence QC Ian Duguid said the verdict offered “no consolation” for anyone in court. “There are two families that have been destroyed by these events,” he said.

The teenager had admitted stabbing Bailey but had denied murder. During evidence, it emerged Bailey suffered a single fatal stab wound to the heart during a fight, and had suffered a major loss of blood.

The court heard that on the day he was stabbed, Bailey missed a lunchtime trip to a supermarket as his friends forgot to tell him about it.

He was in a corridor with other boys and, after refusing one of them a second biscuit, made a remark about him growing fatter.

Accounts of the fight differed but the jury heard that Bailey, who was on his way out of the corridor, turned round and squared up to the teenager after he made a comment about his mother.

Both were said to have thrown punches and two onlookers said Bailey had the teenager in a headlock before he pulled out a knife.

A witness said of Bailey’s reaction: “I found it really shocking – he’s really shy and he’s known not to fight back.”

Headteacher Anna Muirhead, who was alerted to the fight after an ambulance had been called, said: “I knew immediately it was very, very serious.”

A post-mortem revealed Bailey died as the result of a “penetrating stab-force injury to the chest” which went directly into the heart.

Pathologists described the wound as “exceptionally dangerous”.

The teenager told police as he was handcuffed “it was just a moment of anger”.

He later told officers: “I didn’t mean to, but I stabbed him.”

There was audible sobbing in court after the verdict was delivered. Judge Lady Stacey told the teenager: “You have been convicted of a very serious charge.”

Bailey’s family left court without comment.

Last night it emerged the youth convicted of killing Bailey was investigated for an attack on another boy several years ago in primary school. He was claimed to have attacked another pupil with rocks in a lane and the victim was taken to hospital with concussion.

After reporting the incident to police, the injured boy’s parents became concerned when little action appeared to have been taken and feared the youth could go on to commit a more serious crime. The parents also met a local councillor to voice their concerns.

Councillor Marie Boulton, who is now Aberdeen City Council deputy leader, said she reported the matter to the council’s chief executive.

She said: “I passed it to senior staff who carried out an investigation and the information was already under way as an inquiry by the police so we had to be very careful as a council on what we did. This went on for a number of years and concerns were continually raised and I kept raising them with council officials.

“The matter needs to be investigated further just to ensure that there’s nothing we could have done when that original assault took place that could have stopped what happened at Cults Academy.”

The trial earlier heard that a laptop used by the killer had revealed an internet search for “how to get rid of someone annoying”. The search term “difference between a homicide and a murder” was also noted, as was a web address relating to a YouTube video with the title “14-year-old Bronx student stabs bully to death outside school”.

The jury also heard from a friend of the killer that he had shown him a knife a day or two before the fight and “thought it was something cool to have”.

Judge Lady Stacey said he would be held in custody and deferred sentence to 1 April at the High Court in Edinburgh for background reports.

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