Schoolboy convicted of murdering fellow pupil with flick-knife

A 16-year-old schoolboy was convicted yesterday of murdering a fellow pupil outside a school classroom.

A 16-year-old schoolboy was convicted yesterday of murdering a fellow pupil outside a school classroom.

The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, knifed Luke Walmsley, 14, through the heart outside a science class at Birkbeck Secondary School in North Somercotes, Lincolnshire. The jury of six men and six women at Nottingham Crown Court convicted him by a majority of 11 to one after more than four hours of deliberations.

The two-week trial heard that the teenage attacker disliked Luke and delivered a forceful and deliberate blow to his chest after arming himself with a flick-knife on 4 November last year. The killer stood expressionless in the dock as the verdict was delivered. Mr Justice Goldring said he would be sentenced this morning.

Luke's parents, Paul and Jayne Walmsley, had listened intently to the evidence throughout the trial and watched in tears as their son's final steps, captured on CCTV cameras, were played to the court. Luke was seen walking along the school corridor holding his chest. He collapsed moments later near stairs and was attended by teachers, who gave first aid.

The court was told that his attacker had armed himself with a knife and threatened another pupil with the weapon earlier that day. In the weeks leading up to the attack he had told other students he intended to stab the sports-mad teenager.

Yvonne Coen QC, for the prosecution, said it was no secret that the pair disliked each other but that it was unclear what had motivated the defendant to stab Luke. She said he told police that Luke had said he could beat him up.

Mrs Coen told the jury: "Luke Walmsley had no idea it was going to happen and certainly could do nothing to avoid what happened or defend himself from what happened. As he walked past [the defendant] to get to his next lesson, [the defendant] stepped forward and, without saying a word, stabbed Luke in the chest."

Luke was flown by air ambulance to a hospital in Grimsby where he underwent emergency surgery, but he was pronounced dead later that morning. A post-mortem examination later showed the teenager had suffered a single stab wound to the heart.

The defendant initially tried to hide the weapon behind his back when challenged by a teacher but was persuaded to hand it over by another pupil. He admitted stabbing the teenager but denied intending to kill him when questioned by staff and police. He said he had only intended to scare Luke and did not mean to harm him. In his evidence, the 16-year-old boy said he was annoyed and upset after he heard Luke had been passing notes to his girlfriend. He said that he had never got on with the younger pupil, whom he believed had been making threats to fight him and saying things about his mother in the weeks leading to his death.

He said that he had held the knife out to scare Luke and the dead boy walked straight into it. He said: "I didn't want to fight Luke. I thought if I showed the knife, it would prevent him from fighting. I was just going to say something to him just to scare him.

"I thought I would confront him. Just by saying something like, 'back off me or [my girlfriend]' or something. He just walked straight into me. I didn't intend to harm him."

Dr Mark Rouse, a pathologist, told the court that the wound was not consistent with an impaling injury and that it must have been caused by a forceful blow.

The teenager insisted that if he had ever made threats about Luke, he must have been drunk. Ms Coen said: "You hadn't liked Luke for some time before this Tuesday morning. You felt strongly enough about him to say you threatened to kill him on a number of occasions."

He replied: "That might have been when I was drunk, not when I was sober: an empty threat." Ms Coen replied: "Well, it didn't turn out to be so empty, did it?"

Luke had been on the brink of playing rugby for his county and wanted to be a policeman when he grew up. He was doing well at school and was described by his headteacher as a positive role model for other pupils. But in the weeks leading up to his death, his mother started to worry about her eldest child, fearing that he was being bullied. He seemed uncharacteristically apprehensive, the court was told.

On the day of his death, Jayne Walmsley was sufficiently worried to contact the school about her concerns. Luke had told her he did not want to go to rugby practice after school, fearing that he might be set upon if he left the grounds after dark.

His stepfather, Mark Rowbotham, said the school had been warned previously that Luke had been bullied, but he had usually managed to see off his attackers. He said: "He was fit and strong."

The school and the local education authority announced an independent review of the circumstances of Luke's death.