The family of a 15-year-old boy who was stabbed to death at school by another pupil has said her son’s murder was “senseless and avoidable” and that a report ordered by the school showed too many “red flags” were missed.
Harvey Willgoose died one year ago to the day, and his killer, Mohammed Umar Khan, is serving a minimum term of 16 years’ detention. A report commissioned by the trust that runs Harvey’s school, All Saints Catholic high school in Sheffield, has highlighted a number of missed opportunities in the run-up to the murder. The review was undertaken by a former school headteacher and inspector of schools at Learn Sheffield.
Caroline Willgoose told of her family’s anger and pain over failures at the school.
She said: “I’ll always be angry by what happened to Harvey, but more than anything, I’m determined to unite people, bring changes for the better.
“I’m determined that no other family should be sitting in court listening to how their child was killed, have to read a report that lays bare how their child could have been protected. I want to use my voice for Harvey’s memory to push for real change.”
Mohammed Umar Khan. Photograph: South Yorkshire Police/PA Media
There needed, she said, to be better record-keeping and training in schools nationally.
The family have called the report “damning” and said it should be published in full so other schools can learn from mistakes that were made.
Yogi Amin, the head of public law and human rights at Irwin Mitchell, which represents Harvey’s family, said the review had identified “weaknesses in leadership”, failure to implement national policy and “serious shortcomings in record-keeping that meant weapons-related concerns and escalating behaviours were not acted upon effectively”.
He added: “The catalogue of errors makes for deeply troubling reading and just adds to the hurt and pain Harvey’s family have had to endure following his totally unnecessary death.”
The report, Amin said, revealed that safeguarding and behaviour records were not requested or reviewed before Khan’s move to All Saints was agreed. When he did transfer, the records were not read due to unclear responsibility.
Harvey Willgoose’s parents, Mark and Caroline Willgoose, and his grandmother Maria Turner (right). Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian
Maria Turner, Harvey’s grandmother, said “all the red flags were missed” including one, she said, that identified 130 incidents in Khan’s records which included “violence, weapons, gangs and anger … and the school did not seem to pick up on this”.
Harvey’s uncle Simon Turner said the 10 recommendations contained in the report should be seen as “basics” in terms of safeguarding at a school. “It is just shameful that we’re in this situation,” he said.
Amin said: “All school leaders do need to pay attention to these recommendations and implement them in their schools. The gaps in policy, the failures in this school can equally apply to schools up and down the country. We’ll be asking the coroner to review the report and consider the findings at an inquest.”
Khan stabbed Harvey to death during the lunch break in front of other children who fled “in fear and panic”. Some ran to a nearby storage cupboard, which they locked and barricaded.
Caroline Willgoose and her family are now campaigning for all schools to install knife arches to help prevent another stabbing.
The school trust has released the report’s recommendations but said it was not being shared in full due to “the sensitive personal information it contains and privacy concerns”.
One recommendation is that full safeguarding and behaviour records are shared between schools. Another calls for a review that clarifies “the roles, responsibilities and accountabilities of all posts at all levels in the behaviour and safeguarding structures”.
Steve Davies, the chief executive of St Clare Catholic multi-academy trust, said: “It is clear that the report identifies areas for improvement, including in relation to our processes, information-sharing and training.
“The issues this report raises will also resonate more widely across the education sector. We hope the findings can contribute to a wider discussion about the support, guidance and frameworks schools need nationally to respond consistently and safely to the evolving safeguarding challenges affecting young people.”
Caroline Willgoose said everyone who knew Harvey saw that he was “full of love and a cheeky, sociable kid who filled every room with energy.
“He had big dreams, he was always laughing, always bringing people together. Losing him has torn a big hole in our family which will never be replaced. Every day since Harvey was taken has been agony for us all.
“I still hear his voice saying I love you before he left for school that morning.”
She said: “No parent should outlive their child and certainly not because of something as senseless and avoidable as a knife being taken into school.
“Reading the findings in this report, it is devastating to see in black and white the chances they had to step in, the signs that were missed and how many opportunities that there were to protect our boy. It is something that nobody should be going through.”
