Parents of teenager killed in February want more action on knife crime and other options for those struggling in school
On a cold morning at the start of February, 15-year-old Harvey Willgoose got himself out of bed and dressed for school. He had not been for a while, but had built himself up to it.
“He went: ‘I’m going to school, Mum, are you proud of me?’,” says Caroline Willgoose, nursing a cup of tea at her cousin’s kitchen table. “I said: ‘I am love.’ I followed him down. And he said: ‘I love you mum. Shut door behind me.’”
Hours later, Harvey was stabbed at All Saints Catholic high school in Sheffield. He was rushed to hospital, but by the time his family arrived, he was already dead. On Friday, a 15-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons and who had pleaded guilty to Harvey’s manslaughter, was found guilty of his murder. A judge will decide his sentence at a later date.
“He’s killed Harvey, but he’s killed us too,” says Harvey’s dad, Mark Willgoose. “It’s not just one life.” Caroline says she feels no hate for her son’s killer or for his parents. In an early hearing, she looked at him in court. “He just looked like a kid,” she says. “And his parents have got an empty bedroom too, haven’t they. He’s ruined his life.”
