The boy accused of attacking pupils with a hammer was a sleepwalker before, the court heard

Staff and pupils at a state school knew a pupil accused of carrying out a hammer attack had previously sleepwalked, a court heard. The 16-year-old was wearing only boxers when he attacked the two boys and the master at Blundell’s School in Tiverton, Devon, the court heard.

Exeter Crown Court heard 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 taped interview with the jury, a Blundells student recalled a conversation he remembered overhearing at school during the second national Covid-19 lockdown about the defendant’s sleepwalking.

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

“The landlady or matron told me about his sleepwalking difficulties and how it had become a bit of a problem because he was walking around at night. He was in isolation and I’m not entirely sure if he still was when this event occurred.”

Asked about the conversation, the student said: “It was brought up as a joke because it wasn’t too serious, it’s a little abnormal or weird, when someone walks around, and sleepwalking.

“I remember the matron saying there was a problem with (the defendant) and he was still sleepwalking during the night. I don’t remember the whole conversation now.”

The witness was asked if he knew if other people knew about the defendant’s sleepwalking. He said: “I think other people knew about it, but I don’t remember other people telling me about it. It was just something that happened that wasn’t really meant to be talked about.”

The jury was told the two boys were sleeping in bunk beds in one of the school’s boarding houses when the defendant climbed in and attacked them shortly before 1am on June 9 last year. Master Henry Roffe-Silvester, who was sleeping in his own room, was awakened by noises coming from the boarding house and went to investigate.

When he entered the bedroom where the attack took place, he saw a silhouetted figure in the room who turned towards him and repeatedly hit him on 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 the head. The defendant was allegedly “on a mission” and had the protective weapons to prepare for a “zombie apocalypse.”

The defendant, now 17, denies three counts of attempted murder. The process continues.