A public schoolboy who claimed he was sleepwalking when he tried to murder two students and a teacher in a hammer attack has been detained for life.
The 17-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was dressed only in his boxer shorts when he repeatedly hit his dorm mates as they slept in one of the boarding houses at Blundell’s School in Tiverton, Devon, in June last year.
Giving evidence during his trial, the boy said he kept two hammers by his bed “for protection” from a “zombie apocalypse”.
He was armed with three claw hammers and had waited for the two boys to fall asleep before climbing up into the cabin-style beds and attacking them shortly before 1am, the court heard.
Both boys suffered skull fractures, as well as injuries to their ribs, spleen, a punctured lung and internal bleeding.
and a prosecutor said the pair were “lucky to still be alive”.
Maths teacher Henry Roffe-Silvester was asleep in his own quarters when he was awoken by noises coming from the boarding house and went to investigate.
He told a jury he saw a silhouetted figure standing in front of him in the room, who then turned and hit him six times over the head with a hammer.
Another student heard Mr Roffe-Silvester shouting and swearing as he fled the bedroom and dialled 999 – believing there was an intruder.
The two boys were discovered in their beds a few minutes later.
Both are living with the “long-term consequences” of the attack but have no memory of the incident.
The defendant maintained he was sleepwalking at the time of the attacks – meaning he would be not guilty of three counts of attempted murder by reason of insanity.
However, he was found guilty in June by a jury following a 10-week trial at Exeter Crown Court.
He was detained for life with a minimum term of 12 years at the same court today.
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During the trial, James Dawes KC, prosecuting, told jurors: “The investigation has uncovered an obsession that the defendant had with one of the boys, an obsession with hammers as weapons, and an obsession with killing and killers and the killing of children.
“He had motive, that he had planned something like this, thought about it in advance, and he was awake.
“He was using his iPad right up to the moment before the attack.
“Mr Roffe-Silvester said he thought the defendant appeared to be ‘on a mission’ and afterwards his face and body relaxed, and he was calm and slumped on his feet, squatting against the wall.”
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