Hammer attack was typical of sleepwalking - expert

A sleep forensic expert said the defendant's attack was "a textbook example of sleepwalking violence"

A boarding school pupil who attacked two sleeping students and his housemaster with a hammer would have been sleepwalking, an expert has told a court.

The 17-year-old defendant, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is accused of the attempted murder of two students and Henry Roffe-Silvester at Blundell's School in Tiverton, Devon, in June 2023.

Sleep forensic expert, Dr Mark Pressman, told Exeter Crown Court the defendant's attack was "a textbook example of sleepwalking violence".

The defence accepts the teenager carried out the hammer attacks but claims he was sleepwalking at the time. The pupil denies three counts of attempted murder.

'Primitive' response

The court heard how Dr Pressman, who has 42 years of experience in the field and has seen 20,000 patients, had seen more than 100 cases of sleepwalking violence.

He said sleepwalkers could be fearful for their lives and "respond with violence to protect themselves at a very primitive level".

Dr Pressman said: "The defendant swivelled around and attacked his housemaster without knowing who he was.

"He was not aware he had attacked the housemaster."

Dr Pressman went on to describe the attack on Mr Roffe-Silvester as "a textbook example of sleepwalking violence".

Sextortion blackmailer

He said there were no witnesses to the attacks in the dormitory and he said both pupils and the housemaster would have been attacked while the defendant was sleepwalking.

Both students sustained serious head injuries in the hammer attacks as they slept in their beds in the dorm.

Mr Roffe-Silvester was struck six times with a hammer as he went to investigate the incident.

The defendant said he slept with a hammer under his pillow and one next to his bed and claimed he was stressed by a sextortion blackmailer and his exams.

Relatives of the defendant told the court about a history of sleepwalking in their family.

The trial continues.