A teenager who attacked two fellow pupils with a hammer while they were asleep at a private school boarding house had researched serial killers and what happened to children found guilty of murders, a jury has been told.
The defendant, now 17, allegedly attacked the two boys, who were 15 and 16, with one or more claw hammers. The jury has heard it was “astonishing” they survived their head and body injuries and both had suffered long-term consequences. In the months before the attack, he allegedly searched for information about child serial killers, whether young people went to jail and investigated how respected serial killers were in prison. He is also said to have investigated if life imprisonment or the death penalty was better.But the court heard that in the months before the incident in the early hours of 9 June last year, he became hostile towards one of the victims because he believed he had laughed at the defendant during a class.
Dawes said: “As a result of his demand, handed in a hammer. Asked why he had one he said he had bought it as it was cheap.”