The evil killer of murdered schoolboy Harvey Willgoose can be named as knife-obsessed teen thug Mohammed Umar Khan. Khan was unmasked after Harvey’s heartbroken parents of a schoolboy who murdered their son during a lunchbreak row, demanded his identity be made public.
Harvey Willgoose, 15, died when he was stabbed in the heart by a serrated-edged hunting knife wielded by fellow 15-year-old Khan when violence exploded at All Saints Catholic High School in Sheffield on February 3. Harvey’s 15-year-old killer could not previously be named because of his age; however, media organisations successfully applied to have the anonymity order protecting his identity lifted. Khan will be sentenced for murder this afternoon.
The Sheffield-born tearaway teen was convicted in August of brutally murdering Harvey after a five-week trial heard how the weapons-obsessed youth took the deadly blade into school after an online row with Harvey over a previous incident the week before – in which the school was plunged into lockdown and police were called – spiralled out of control.
Harvey’s mum Caroline claims her son’s name had been “tarnished” during the trial amid defence claims of football hooliganism and allegations of racist bullying, and said the killer must be named so he could face the same scrutiny.
Prior to his deadly assault, Khan was a knife-obsessed thug who had stored a chilling array of photographs and videos on his mobile phone, posing with Rambo knives, an axe, a machete, and a baseball bat.
The sickening cache of pictures uncovered by police included the lethal hunting knife he used to kill his foe.
And they also included a video clip of the boy brandishing a knife in the grounds of All Saints school. He posted the video on social media as a warning to other teenagers that he was somebody who carried a knife.
Khan told police he “enjoyed’ playing Assassin’s Creed and bought a merchandise knife online which he called a “prop knife” claiming you would not be able to stab someone with it.
He also admitted buying the weapons with his parents’ credit card, including the “scary” hunting knife that he used to kill Harvey
Harvey’s heartbroken parents, who have set up a youth club in his memory, are now demanding that airport-style knife arches be installed in all schools.
Mrs Willgoose previously said: “Get knife arches in, then get educating children about the pure devastation that knife crime brings.
“Children know there are knives in schools. Something needs to be done.”
The mother, who has campaigned against knife crime since her son’s death, added: “If you don’t think there’s a problem, ask your child if they have ever known of anybody bringing a knife into school. I think parents would be very interested in their answer.”
Mrs Willgoose said her son avoided school in part due to anxiety caused by the coronavirus pandemic, but also because of a fear about knives in schools.
Harvey’s dad Mark, 52, said the youth club, Harvey’s Hub, would teach young people about the dangers of knife crime.
He said the family had previously met with Home Secretary Yvette Cooper to discuss the issue and an online petition has been launched.
The trial heard the school attended by both boys had been put into lockdown in the week before he was stabbed to death after a fight between two other students, with the defendant claiming one of the pupils involved in the fight was armed.
While no weapon was found, Mrs Willgoose said her son had warned the family about pupils carrying knives.
“I hate him being known as the student who got stabbed to death,” she said. “I didn’t even want him to go to school that day, I wasn’t even bothered in the end. He was determined he was going.”