Bailey Gwynne '˜had little chance of surviving knife wound'

A SCHOOLBOY who died after being stabbed through the heart had little chance of surviving the wound, a murder trial has heard.

The 16-year-old Bailey Gwynne was fatally injured at Cults Academy in Aberdeen in October last year. Picture: PA

Bailey Gwynne, 16, died from a single knife wound that pierced his vital organ after a fight at Cults Academy in Aberdeen on 28 October last year.

A 16-year-old youth, who has been on trial at the High Court in the city this week, admits the stabbing but denies murdering him.

The court heard evidence from forensic pathologist Dr James Grieve yesterday, whose children attended the same school.

He carried out a postmortem examination of Bailey’s body two days after he suffered “catastrophic blood loss” and died in hospital.

Advocate depute Alex Prentice, prosecuting, asked Dr Grieve if the incident would have been survivable.

The professor said that the time elapsed between the “exceptionally dangerous wound” being inflicted and getting medical treatment would have been the decisive factor in whether he lived or died.

He said: “I would have thought that time would have been critical. What we have is a stab wound which penetrated through the muscle and the fat between two ribs and goes into the heart through the pericardium sac into the left ventricle.

“I could not say that if this happened outside an operating theatre with surgeons all there scrubbed up it would be necessarily fatal. The further you get from that circumstance it’s less likely there’s any chance of survival. Having seen the reports of paramedics and emergency workers I am in no way surprised what the outcome was.”

At the beginning of the trial, the jury heard that it was agreed that Bailey was struck in the body with a knife by the accused, which caused his death.

The court heard previously that Bailey collapsed in a school corridor just minutes after being stabbed following a row over the sharing of a packet of biscuits.

He and the accused had come to blows outside a toilet block after a remark was made about Bailey’s mother being “fat”.

The jury is expected to be charged by Lady Stacey on Monday.