Teen Allegedly Attacks Peers with Hammer, Claims Sleepwalking Defense

In a shocking incident at Blundell’s School in Tiverton, Devon, a 17-year-old student is accused of attempting to murder two fellow students and a teacher with a claw hammer, Exeter Crown Court was informed. The defendant, whose identity is protected due to legal reasons, purportedly carried out the violent acts while claiming he was sleepwalking, according to BBC.

The prosecution described the teenager as arming himself with four claw hammers and launching the attacks as the victims slept. The events unfolded in the early hours of June 9 last year, starting just before 1 a.m. James Dawes KC, the prosecutor, outlined that the accused climbed into the victims’ cabin-style beds and repeatedly struck them in the head with the hammers, via Sky News.

“The defendant was very calculated in his approach. He chose a time when the boys were most vulnerable, asleep in their beds, to execute a plan he had contemplated for a while,” Dawes explained. He noted that the teen used both the flat side and the claw end of the hammers, causing severe head injuries to the boys.

The situation escalated when Henry Roffe-Silvester, a teacher residing in the same boarding house, was awakened by the noise. Upon investigating, he too was brutally attacked with the hammer, receiving multiple blows to his head and face.

Dawes recounted that the assailant appeared emotionless during the attacks, which he described as chilling. After the assaults, the defendant’s demeanor reportedly shifted to a more subdued state as he was later found squatting against a wall.

As the legal proceedings unfold, the court will also consider the unusual defense claimed by the defendant regarding his mental state at the time of the attack, attributing his actions to sleepwalking. This case has drawn considerable attention due to the severe nature of the assaults and the peculiar defense invoked.