Harvey Willgoose: Boy who murdered student at school with a knife detained for minimum of 16 years
A 15-year-old boy who stabbed fellow pupil Harvey Willgoose to death during a school lunch break has been detained for at least 16 years.
Mohammed Umar Khan, who can now be named following a judge’s ruling, took a hunting knife to school and knifed the teenager in the heart in front of horrified children on February 3.
Khan’s trial heard how other pupils fled “in fear and panic”, some locking themselves in a school cupboard, after the fatal attack at the All Saints Catholic High School in Sheffield.
He was found guilty of murder in August, with Harvey’s sister, Sophie Willgoose, describing the killing as “not just a crime against my brother, it was a crime against all of us who loved him”.
During his sentencing hearing at Sheffield Crown Court on Wednesday, the defendant was told by judge Mrs Justice Ellenbogen: “You were the aggressor and… you acted in hurt and anger at what you considered to be his betrayal of your friendship.”
On Wednesday, the judge agreed to lift an order banning Khan’s identification following applications from a number of media organisations, including the PA news agency.
She told the court she had to balance the need to fully report a very serious case with the welfare of the defendant, who turns 16 next month.
The judge said: “This was a serious crime carried out by one pupil on another on school property with a knife he brought into school.
“It was witnessed to varying degrees by other pupils and teachers.
“The public will wish to know the identity of those who commit such offences in seeking to understand how it is a child of that age can do so.”