Boy accused of attacking pupils with hammer had previously sleepwalked, court hears

Staff and pupils at a public school were aware a student accused of carrying out a hammer attack had previously been sleepwalking, a court heard. The 16-year-old was wearing just his boxer shorts when he attacked the two boys and the housemaster at Blundell’s School in Tiverton, Devon, the court was told.

Exeter Crown Court heard that the teenager, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, had armed himself with three claw hammers. The teenager accepts he carried out the attacks but says he is not guilty of attempted murder because he was sleepwalking at the time.

In a recorded interview played to the jury, a Blundells student recalled a conversation he remembered hearing at the school during the second national Covid-19 lockdown about the defendant’s sleepwalking.

“I just remember the housemistress or matron talking about it, joking about it,” the student said. “I was never there but I remember there was a problem with him sleepwalking.

“The housemistress or the matron told me about his sleepwalking difficulties and how it had become a bit of a problem because he would be walking around at night. It was during the lockdown period, and I am not completely sure if he still did it at the time this event happened.”

Asked about the conversation, the student replied: “It was presented in a jokey way because it was not too serious, it’s a bit abnormal or weird, as someone is walking about, he’s sleepwalking again.

“I remember the matron saying it was a problem with (the defendant) and he keeps sleepwalking during the night. I can’t really remember the whole conversation now.”

The witness was asked whether he knew if other people knew about the defendant sleepwalking. He said: “I think other people knew about it, but I don’t recall other people talking to me about it. It was just something that happened that didn’t really need to be talked about.”

The jury has been told the two boys were asleep in cabin-style beds in one of the school’s boarding houses when the defendant climbed up and attacked them shortly before 1am on June 9 last year. Housemaster Henry Roffe-Silvester, who was asleep in his own quarters, was awoken by noises coming from the boarding house and went to investigate.

When he entered the bedroom where the attack had happened, he saw a silhouetted figure standing in the room who turned towards him and repeatedly struck him over the head with a hammer, the court heard. Both boys suffered skull fractures, as well as injuries to their ribs, spleen, a punctured lung and internal bleeding.

Mr Roffe-Silvester suffered six blows to his head. It is alleged the defendant was “on a mission” and had the weapons for protection to prepare for a “zombie apocalypse”.

The defendant, now aged 17, denies three charges of attempted murder. The trial continues.