Blundell’s School teacher tells court of horror attack by student with hammer

Henry Roffe-Silvester was struck six times by a 16-year-old student at Blundell’s School in Tiverton, Devon

The incident happened at Blundell’s School in Tiverton, Devon (Alamy/PA) (PA Archive)

A teacher has described being bludgeoned with a hammer by a public schoolboy as he went to investigate noises coming from a boarding house in the middle of the night, a court heard.

Henry Roffe-Silvester was struck six times by a 16-year-old student at Blundell’s School in Tiverton, Devon.

The housemaster had been awoken by footsteps coming from the dormitory directly above his quarters in one of the co-ed school’s boarding houses shortly before 1am on June 9 last year.

As Mr Roffe-Silvester entered the pitch-black room, he saw a silhouetted figure standing in front of him who then turned and repeatedly hit him over the head with one of three hammers.

The trial at Exeter Crown Court has heard the schoolboy, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, had moments earlier allegedly attacked two other sleeping teenagers.

“As I opened the door, he then turned towards me and struck me on the head with a hammer,” Mr Roffe-Silvester told the court.

“Physically I stumbled backwards into the corridor. There was a second blow – I can’t remember if it was before I stumbled back – that’s a little bit hazy for me.”

The maths teacher said all six blows he suffered were directed towards his head and he tried to reassure the defendant that it was him, rather than an intruder.

“At this point, I knew it was the defendant,” he said.

“I was telling him that it’s me in the doorway and not someone else.”

“I am going backwards down the corridor with the defendant coming towards me still and trying to hit me with the hammer again.

“In hindsight, I know I was hit six times, but I only knew that once I got to hospital, I don’t really remember where each of the blows was.”

Mr Roffe-Silvester said he managed to get the hammer from the defendant – who then slumped down in the corridor – as if squatting.

“I was definitely shouting for help at that point – I don’t remember the exact words,” he said.

Once the housemaster got the hammer, he said the demeanour of the defendant, who was wearing just his boxer shorts, changed, the court heard.

“At that point suddenly the defendant’s demeanour changed significantly from being a sort of rage to calm, as I would normally see him,” he said.

“At that point, he slumped down by the door frame onto his haunches like in a squat position.”

He told the jury he asked another boy to stay with the defendant and he heard the defendant tell that boy: “I was dreaming” and “(an alleged victim) had a hammer”.

Exeter Crown Court (PA Archive)

Mr Roffe-Silvester told the court he was then called to the dormitory by other teenagers who had discovered the two boys lying in their beds severely injured.

“I first saw one of the boys… the most immediate thing is the amount of blood everywhere,” he said.

“There was a large pool of blood on the floor to the left of his bed and there was a lot of blood on his desk and on the floor.

“I first see him in his bed and he’s in a sleeping position lying down and he’s covered in blood and there’s no duvet on him.”

Mr Roffe-Silvester said the other boy was also lying on his bed covered in blood and was making groaning noises.

“The blood was less on him and more contained within the bed.”

Both boys suffered skull fractures, as well as injuries to their ribs, spleen, a punctured lung and internal bleeding.

The jury heard Mr Roffe-Silvester did not have his phone with him and another student called the emergency services.

He said he found two hammers in the room and put them with the hammer he had taken from the defendant in his office until the police arrived.

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.