Schoolboy jailed for attacking sleeping students with a hammer in bloody ’zombie apocalypse’ rampage

The court heard that the teen had armed himself with three claw hammers and waited for the two boys to be asleep before attacking them. The two pupils were asleep in cabin-style beds in one of the co-ed school’s boarding houses when the defendant climbed up and attacked them just before 1am. Mr Roffe-Silvester went to investigate, and upon entering the bedroom, where the attack happened, he spotted a silhouetted figure standing in the room. 

The figure then turned toward him and repeatedly struck him over the head with a hammer. The two boys attacked by the teen suffered skull fractures, injuries to their ribs, spleens, a punctured lung and internal bleeding. Mr Roffe-Silvester suffered six blows to his head.

The court heard that another student fleeing his bedroom had heard shouting and swearing and called 999, believing an intruder had broken into the boarding quarters. The two boys were discovered in their beds a few minutes later. The two boys are living with the "long-term consequences" of the attack but have no memory of the incident. 

The teenager has accepted carrying out the attacks but told the jury he had no recollection of them taking place, claiming to have fallen asleep on the evening of June 8 and awaking to see the blood-covered room. He told the court: “I remember being in the room. The room was covered in blood. What I could see was blood. I didn’t hear anything. I remember walking out to the corridor.”

Crime scene photographs of the corridor leading to bedrooms in Blundell’s School in Tiverton, Devon, after a pupil attacked peers and a teacher in a violent assault ( Image: Devon & Cornwall Police / SWNS)

He added: “I knew something really bad had gone on and everyone was looking towards me. I didn’t remember doing anything so the only rational thing I was thinking was that I was sleepwalking.” 

During the trial, James Dawes KC, prosecuting, told jurors: “The investigation has uncovered an obsession that the defendant had with one of the boys, an obsession with hammers as weapons, and an obsession with killing and killers and the killing of children. He had motive, that he had planned something like this, thought about it in advance, and he was awake.

“He was using his iPad right up to the moment before the attack. Mr Roffe-Silvester said he thought the defendant appeared to be ‘on a mission’ and afterwards his face and body relaxed, and he was calm and slumped on his feet, squatting against the wall.”

Police have released images of a bloody hammer found at the scene ( Image: Devon & Cornwall Police / SWNS)

But one expert told the jury the boy would have been sleepwalking. Dr Mark Pressman went on to describe the attack on Mr Roffe-Silvester as “a textbook example of sleepwalking violence” and said there were no features in the case inconsistent with sleepwalking. Relatives of the defendant also told the court about a history of sleepwalking in their family.

Another expert, Dr John O’Reilly, said he did not believe the boy was asleep because a sleepwalker does not initiate violence because it is triggered by noise or touch. Giving evidence, the boy said he kept two hammers by his bed “for protection” from the “zombie apocalypse”.

The boy added: “I feel very terribly sorry for all three individuals because of what I did to them. I feel very sorry for everyone, the families and themselves.”

Speaking after the sentencing, Detective Inspector Dave Egan said: “This was an unprovoked attack on two schoolboys as they slept in their beds. The assaults were both brutal and savage and I have no doubt that his intent was to kill. Our detectives worked tirelessly to prove that the offender had indeed been fully conscious when committing this horrendous attack, which had been months in the planning.”

The family of one of the teenagers said: “We would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who have assisted in our son’s recovery – from the school community to the paramedics and the doctors and surgeons who gave outstanding care whilst he was in hospital. We are eternally grateful for your interventions.

“The police and the prosecution team have helped us navigate this horrific case with the utmost professionalism and compassion. Their thoroughness and attention to detail in the investigation has been truly impressive. We are indebted to everyone involved and would like to convey our sincerest thanks.”

The family of the other boy said: “I am pleased with the way the investigation has been handled by both the police and the prosecution team. I am looking forward to my family moving on now that the trial is over, and I hope my son will continue his recovery and have a good future ahead.”