Bailey Gwynne killing: Teen guilty of stabbing pupil at Scottish school

Sebastian Mann8 March 2016
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

A teenage boy has been found guilty of stabbing to death 16-year-old Bailey Gwynne in a fight at a school.

The young victim died from a knife wound to the chest at Cults Academy in Aberdeen on October 28 last year.

A 16-year-old youth, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was convicted of culpable homicide after a jury ruled against a charge of murder at the city's High Court.

Police Scotland

He had admitted stabbing Bailey but denied murder during the five-day trial.

During evidence, it emerged Bailey had a major loss of blood after suffering a single fatal stab wound to the heart during a fight.

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

He was in a corridor with a group of boys and, after refusing a second biscuit to one, made a remark about him getting fatter.

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

They both were said to have thrown punches and two onlookers said Bailey had him 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."

Head teacher 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 examination revealed he 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 who carried out the stabbing told police as he was handcuffed "it was just a moment of anger".

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT