News Article 33

Bailey Gwynne case: Trial told victim had 'No Chance'

A teenager who died after being stabbed in an Aberdeen school had "no chance", a murder trial has been told.

Bailey Gwynne, 16, died after being stabbed in the heart at Cults Academy last October. The accused, who is 16 and cannot be named for legal reasons, denies murder.

Advocate depute Alex Prentice QC, prosecuting, told the jury during his closing speech at the High Court in Aberdeen: "Bailey Gwynne had no chance."

He said: "This was a lethal wound inflicted by a lethal weapon." 

He said it was a "silly trivial fight between two schoolboys".

Mr Prentice started by asking the jury: "Why do you think a young man would carry a knife and a knuckleduster?"

He added: "You would have to have hearts of stone not to be moved by the emotion of this trial, but you must put emotion aside." Mr Prentice asked the jury to convict the accused of murder, but added they could convict of the lesser charge of culpable homicide. He also asked for guilty verdicts on the two charges of having knives and knuckledusters in school.

Mr Prentice said: "There was a stab wound to the heart inflicted by a lethal weapon that was routinely carried. "It may be everyone in this room wishes they had the power to turn back time.

"If we could do that, what would we do? We would say 'get rid of the knife, school is no place for a knife'.

"This case demonstrates the dangers of carrying a knife. If you have a knife you have the ability to use it."

Defence counsel Ian Duguid QC said the jury was dealing with a "spontaneous event" which lasted about 30 seconds. Mr Duguid said the accused had shown "extraordinary stupidity" but suggested Bailey Gwynne had shown "recklessness" in assaulting a fellow pupil.

Mr Duguid said a "trivial" matter started the fight, but said the accused was not a "fighting boy". He said: "Of course if he did not have a knife that day there would be a burst nose and a fat lip but for who? Bailey Gwynne? I don't think so."