Blundell's School headteacher speaks out as former pupil jailed for life

Blundell's School head Bart Wielenga said he was 'proud' of how his students acted

The headteacher of Blundell's School has issued a statement as one of his former students was jailed for life after viciously attacking two pupils and a teacher with a hammer. A teenage boy, who cannot be identified due to his age, was found guilty of attempted murder after arming himself with three claw hammers and brutally bludgeoning his dormmates while they slept.

The 17-year-old acknowledged carrying out the attack but denied attempted murder, claiming he was sleepwalking as he smashed hammers into his 15 and 16-year-old roommates at the school in Tiverton. This claim was disbelieved by the jury who found him guilty of three counts of attempted murder. The boy was handed a life sentence at Exeter Crown Court today (October 18) and will serve a minimum of 12 years.

Following sentencing, head teacher Bart Wielenga said: “We will continue to make counselling available to any staff or pupils who feel in need of additional support. I have been very clear with the pupils that this is not an incident we whisper about or have to be ashamed of. It is part of our narrative, our shared story.

“We are allowed to talk about it openly and we can express our emotions safely. I would like to record my thanks, too, to the emergency services who arrived on the scene so quickly and who handled a difficult situation with such compassion and expertise.

“The surgeons who treated the boys in the immediate aftermath were heroic and the care the boys received has been excellent.”

Mr Wielenga praised his students ahead of the sentencing, highlighting their "admirable optimism and grace" during the trial and sentencing. Mr Wielenga told pupils he is "tremendously proud" of their community during what has been difficult circumstances.

"You have been kind and patient, and you have always sought to remain positive even when things were at their most trying," he told them. "You have stood by each other, and I have sensed no anger, bitterness or rancour. In all things you have conducted yourselves in a spirit of admirable optimism and grace.

"On Friday a young man who was once a pupil amongst us, will face up to the consequences of his actions. Justice will take its course, and he will have to confront that reality. So, whilst we have much to be grateful for, we might, quite understandably, have mixed emotions about Friday.

"We should be pleased that the process is coming to an end. Glad that justice is taking its course. Grateful for the wellbeing of Mr Roffe-Silvester and the boys concerned, but ultimately, sad that such an event with such horrific consequences ever took place here.”

Mr Roffe-Silvester, a housemaster at Blundell's School, was woken by commotion heard in the boy's bedroom. The court heard that, at around 12.50am, the boy armed himself with hammers and climbed on to the bed of a victim. While he was still asleep, the attacker smashed a hammer down onto his head multiple times, breaking his skull in several placed.

He continued the attack onto the victim’s back damaging his spleen, one of his lungs and his ribs. The offender then climbed onto the second victim's bed and hit him repeatedly over the head, fracturing his skull in multiple places. Housemaster Henry Roffe-Silvester, who was asleep in his own quarters, was awoken by noises coming from the dorm and went to investigate.

He found the room in darkness and could make out the silhouette of the offender who immediately turned and struck him over the head with a hammer. Another student heard Mr Roffe-Silvester shouting and swearing as he fled the bedroom and dialled 999 – believing there was an intruder. Mr Roffe-Silvester retreated down the corridor and was hit repeatedly before he managed to disarm the offender.

Other pupils were also woken by the noise and came to the aid of the victims as an ambulance was called. Emergency services arrived within minutes and provided life-saving care to the two teenage victims, who were both rushed to hospital in a critical condition.

The court heard that they both survived due to the prompt arrival of paramedics and the skilful work of the doctors and surgeons. One of the boys remained in hospital for a number of months and underwent significant rehabilitation and now suffers from life-changing cognitive impairment.