Bailey Gwynne murder trial: 16-year-old found guilty of culpable homicide of Aberdeen schoolboy
Bailey died from a knife wound to the chest sustained during a 'silly trivial fight' with another pupil at his school
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A teenage boy has been found guilty of killing another pupil at his school by stabbing him in the heart during lunch break, after a court heard how he pulled a knife he had bought on Amazon out of his pocket during a “silly trivial fight”.
Bailey Gwynne, 16, died from a knife wound to the chest sustained during the fight at Cults Academy in Aberdeen in October last year. On Monday another 16-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was convicted of culpable homicide at the city's High Court.
The jury decided against a charge of murder, for which the prosecution had to prove that the youth had intended to kill his victim from the outset. Judge Lady Stacey said the teenager would be held in custody until being sentenced at the High Court in Edinburgh on 1 April.
Earlier in the five-day trial, the court heard how the two boys had squared up to one another after the killer made a remark about Bailey's mother being fat. Both threw punches before the youth, who according to some witnesses had been put in a headlock by Bailey, stabbed him in the chest with a knife he had bought for £40 online.
The first teacher to arrive on the scene of the fatal incident, which onlookers said only lasted for around 30 seconds, told the court he did not initially realise how serious Bailey's injuries were. But as he marched the pair down the corridor towards an office, the teenager suddenly staggered into a wall and collapsed.
The teenager who carried out the stabbing told police that his actions had been “just a moment of anger” as he was handcuffed after the incident, the trial heard. He denied murder, but was found guilty of two further charges of having knives and knuckledusters at school in the weeks before Bailey's death.
Detective Superintendent David McLaren, of Police Scotland, said it was “difficult to comprehend” how Bailey had come to die at the hands of a fellow pupil, but stressed that the killer's “senseless decision” to bring a knife into school had triggered the fatal incident.
“The death of Bailey Gwynne has had a massive impact on his family, friends, fellow pupils and staff at Cults Academy. The details of the case have caused shock within the local community and further afield across the whole of the country,” he added, before paying tribute to the teenager's family and the pupils and teachers who tried to save his life.