A teenager accused of murder brought knives and knuckledusters to school because he thought they were “cool”, a court heard today.
Bailey Gwynne was killed after a fight broke out at Cults Academy in Aberdeen on October 28 last year.
The other 16-year-old boy involved in the scuffle was later charged with his murder and went on trial at the High Court in Aberdeen earlier this week.
The teenager denies the charge against him.
The trial heard evidence from a friend of the accused who said he had shown him a knife on several occasions over a period of more than a year.
The witness told the court he saw his pal with knuckledusters “40 or 50 times” in school.
Depute Alex Prentice QC asked the witness if he confronted his friend about the knife.
The witness said: “I said why did you bring it to school.
“He said he thought it was cool. ‘Cos it’s cool’.
“I said not to bring it to school.”
And asked about the pair of silver knuckledusters he described the boy having, the witness said: “they were just something he bought online, maybe eBay.
“I would always tell him not to have them. But he just thought it was cool.”
The High Court previously heard evidence that the row between the two boys broke out over the sharing of a packet of biscuits between a group of boys standing near a toilet block.
The 16-year-old witness said: “Bailey had biscuits. The rest of them just had sweets.
“I didn’t have any lunch that day so I asked Bailey for a biscuit and he gave me one.
“I asked him for a second one and he said no as I think he had only one left.”
The jury heard evidence that there was then an exchange of insults between the accused and Bailey, during which Bailey’s mum was called “fat”.
The witness said: “Bailey turned round and said ‘what did you say?’
“I was really shocked. Bailey was known for not fighting back. People would say stuff to him and he would just not say anything back.”
The court heard the pair then started pushing and grappling with each other.
The witness said Bailey was hitting the accused against the wall with his head in a head lock when he reached into a pocket and “thrust” an object into Bailey’s chest.
A teacher then split the two apart, noted the blood on Bailey’s shirt and started marching them to the office.
Around 50 metres up the main corridor of the school, known as “the street” Bailey collapsed underneath a TV screen used for school announcements.
The witness said: “I don’t even think Bailey realised at that point.
“They made him walk all the way across school to the other side. I don’t know how they didn’t notice he was bleeding all the way.”
The court heard on day one of the trial that emergency responders were then called as a cleaner tried to apply pressure to the stab wound.
Another teacher described how she saw the accused sitting near the school office, who indicated to where Bailey was lying waiting on medics, before saying “that was me, that was my fault”.
A joint minute of agreed facts was also read to the jury on the opening day.
It is agreed that during the struggle Bailey was struck in the body with a knife by the accused – causing his death.
A postmortem identified the cause of Bailey’s death as a “stab force injury to the chest”.
Prosecutors claim the accused did “engage in fighting” with Bailey and struck him on the body with a knife.
The accused is also alleged to have had knives or “bladed instruments” as well as two knuckledusters at the school “without reasonable excuse or lawful authority”.
According to court papers, the weapons were allegedly taken into the school between August 2013 and the day that Bailey was killed.
All children under the age of 18 involved in court proceedings, whether as a victim, witness or accused, were granted anonymity as part of changes to Scottish legislation last year.
The trial before Lady Stacey continues.
