Cults Academy stabbing: Boy accused of killing Bailey Gwynne 'brought knives to school because he thought it was cool'

'He just thought it was something cool to have'

Bailey Gwynne was fatally injured at Cults Academy in Aberdeen in October last year (PA)

A 16-year-old boy accused of fatally stabbing another teenager during a fight at school regularly brought knives and knuckledusters into the classroom because he thought it was “cool”, one of his friends has told a court.

The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is accused of murdering Bailey Gwynne, 16, during a scuffle at Cults Academy in Aberdeen in October last year. His trial has heard how the “shy” schoolboy collapsed after being stabbed in the heart.

Giving evidence at his trial at Aberdeen’s High Court, one of the accused boy’s friends said he had seen him with a knife 20 or 25 times – including the Monday or Tuesday before the alleged murder – and with knuckledusters on 40 or 50 occasions.

He told the court that the boy liked to “play about” with knuckledusters, which he claimed to have bought online, and had been carrying a knife days before the fatal incident. “He just thought it was something cool to have,” the witness said. “I said you’re too young for that kind of stuff, you might get caught or get in trouble.”

The school’s deputy head David Strang, 50, said the accused youth had wiped blood off his hands and sobbed when he was brought into his office shortly after the incident. The teacher said the boy had used a mobile phone to call his parents. “I think he said that he had stabbed someone,” he said.

The court also heard evidence from Pc Christopher Masson, 37, one of the police officers who attended the school shortly after the incident. He said that after another officer handcuffed the distressed youth, he had asked them: “Is he dead? It was just a moment of anger.”

Earlier in the trial, the jury heard that a row over some biscuits had escalated into to name-calling and then a fight between Bailey and the accused. Witnesses said they were not aware of any cause of conflict between the two before the incident.

The accused youth denies murder and being in possession of knives and two knuckledusters on occasions between August 2013 and the day Bailey died. The trial continues.