Blundell's attacker had weapons in drawer, court hears

A witness to the attacks said the defendant had weapons locked in his dormitory drawer

A teenager who launched a hammer attack on two pupils and their housemaster had weapons locked in his dormitory drawer, a schoolboy has told the jury.

A student from Blundell's School, Tiverton, told Exeter Crown Court about the incident on 9 June 2023.

The witness said the defendant had two hammers, a Swiss Army knife, a nail gun, shards of glass and a screwdriver set in his drawer.

The defendant denies three charges of attempted murder.

The witness also claimed the defendant threatened him with a hammer.

Locked drawer of weapons

The defendant, who is 17 cannot be named for legal reasons.

The witness said the threat came when the defendant, then aged 16, told him to leave the shared bedroom - despite being invited there by the two pupils who were later injured in the hammer attack.

He said the defendant pulled out the hammer in silence and then ordered him out of their room, adding that he thought it was a joke but did not want to risk it.

The schoolboy said the defendant followed him down the corridor still carrying the hammer, but said he "did not think he would hit me with it".

He said that the defendant kept the key to the padlock for the drawer in a table tennis ball case.

"There was nothing else but weapons in that locked drawer," he said.

Relentless bullying treatment

The pupil said he asked the defendant why he bought the hammer, and the defendant only said it cost him 99p.

He said the defendant said he was "relentless" in his bullying treatment to the younger victim of the attack saying "he never left him alone", and that the defendant claimed other people did not like the young victim.

The schoolboy witness said the young victim was a "really nice person".

Under cross examination he said in the weeks and months after the "shocking" incident, there were lots of rumours about the defendant and what he had done before.

The two injured pupils, then aged 15 and 16, suffered serious head and other wounds as they slept in their beds in the dormitory.

Housemaster Henry Roffe-Silvester was also injured when he was struck six times with a hammer as he went to investigate noises coming from the boys' bedroom just before 01:00 BST.

The court has heard that the defendant accepted he caused the injuries but claimed he had been dreaming and sleepwalking at the time.

The trial continues.