Bailey Gwynne stabbing '˜just a moment of anger' court hears

Evidence regarding the alleged murder of Bailey Gwynne has been heard at court. Picture: Police Scotland

The youth is accused of murdering Bailey Gwynne during a fight at Cults Academy in Aberdeen last October.

The 16-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, wiped away tears as PC Christopher Masson outlined the police response during the second day of the trial at Aberdeen High Court.

Mr Masson, 37, said another officer handcuffed the visibly upset youth, who asked them: “Is he dead? It was just a moment of anger.”

He told them there was a knife in a bin at the school – without being asked - and a search of an inside pocket of his jacket revealed a knife sheath, PC Masson said.

The trial has heard how the accused and Bailey became involved in a fight on the afternoon of 28 October and that Bailey died after being struck on the body by a knife.

The youth denies murder and being in possession of knives and two knuckledusters on occasions between August 2013 and the day Bailey died.

Paramedic Gary Gillespie, 46, said Bailey was conscious but gasping for breath when the first responder arrived at the school. He told the court, amid sobs from the gallery, that Bailey was “probably the palest person I’ve ever seen”.

The teenager had obviously suffered a “catastrophic blood loss”, Mr Gillespie said, and his heart stopped shortly after a full ambulance crew arrived.

On the way to hospital, Mr Gillespie said he tried to stop the bleeding from a 2cm wound to the left of Bailey’s chest.

Cults depute head David Strang, 50, who spoke to the accused after the fight, said he used a tissue he gave him to wipe his nose and wipe blood off his hands.

He said: “When he came over to put the tissue in the bin he said ‘I’d better give you this’, and handed over a knuckleduster from his pocket.”

Mr Strang said he thought he remembered the youth saying he had stabbed someone during a call to his father or mother.

During cross-examination, he added: “He said that he had been called fat and that he had retaliated that his [Bailey’s]mother was fat, and then the fight broke out from there.”

The jury heard earlier from a friend of the accused that he had shown him a knife a day or two before the alleged murder.

The witness said: “He just thought it was something cool to have. I said you’re too young for that kind of stuff, you might get caught or get in trouble.”

The court heard Bailey and the accused were not enemies before the fight but that Bailey would sometimes mock his weight to others.

Under cross-examination, a friend of Bailey’s said: “He would make the odd comment. He would mock his large size. When he said it it was not in [the accused’s] presence.”

He said of Bailey: “He’s quite a strong guy and he generally just mocks anybody of a larger size, not just (the accused). He was quite proud of his strength and talked down to people who weren’t as strong as him.”

The court heard Bailey was with the accused and others in a corridor at lunchtime when he refused someone a second biscuit from the packet he had.

They began name-calling and witnesses said Bailey responded to a comment about his mother by punching the accused and putting him in a headlock.

The youth then reached into his pocket and thrust an object into his body, one witness said.

The trial continues.