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| Bailey Gwynne murder accused was distraught, headteacher tells court | Bailey Gwynne murder accused was distraught, headteacher tells court |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A headteacher has described how the boy accused of murdering Bailey Gwynne during a school lunch hour last October became distraught, telling her: “That was my fault”, as his victim lay bleeding nearby. | A headteacher has described how the boy accused of murdering Bailey Gwynne during a school lunch hour last October became distraught, telling her: “That was my fault”, as his victim lay bleeding nearby. |
| Anna Muirhead told the jury at Aberdeen high court how she had been called out of her office at Cults Academy and immediately came across the 16-year-old, who was with a teacher. | Anna Muirhead told the jury at Aberdeen high court how she had been called out of her office at Cults Academy and immediately came across the 16-year-old, who was with a teacher. |
| “He was sitting side on to the seat and slightly curled up. He was obviously distraught or upset. I said to him ‘what’s up?’. He indicated with his head and his hand round the corner: ‘That was me, that was my fault’.” | “He was sitting side on to the seat and slightly curled up. He was obviously distraught or upset. I said to him ‘what’s up?’. He indicated with his head and his hand round the corner: ‘That was me, that was my fault’.” |
| Muirhead continued: “I took about one step and saw Bailey lying on the ground and various members of staff beside him. I knew immediately that it was very, very serious.” | Muirhead continued: “I took about one step and saw Bailey lying on the ground and various members of staff beside him. I knew immediately that it was very, very serious.” |
| Occasionally glancing at the boy in the dock, the headteacher added that, after the ambulance crew had arrived to attend to Bailey, she had encouraged the accused to wait with her in her office. “He was very agitated and said ‘No, just take me to the police’.” | Occasionally glancing at the boy in the dock, the headteacher added that, after the ambulance crew had arrived to attend to Bailey, she had encouraged the accused to wait with her in her office. “He was very agitated and said ‘No, just take me to the police’.” |
| Muirhead described how the day had begun like any other, with routine school duties. | |
| “It was a horrible dreich [dank] day so we expected the school to be busier than normal with less seniors going down to the village.” | |
| She had helped to give out pre-ordered packed lunches from a trolley, then picked up a cup of soup for herself and walked back to her office. | She had helped to give out pre-ordered packed lunches from a trolley, then picked up a cup of soup for herself and walked back to her office. |
| Clasping her hands in front of her, she described how her office administrator had burst in, saying: “Anna, there’s been a fight. It looks serious. We’ve called an ambulance.” | Clasping her hands in front of her, she described how her office administrator had burst in, saying: “Anna, there’s been a fight. It looks serious. We’ve called an ambulance.” |
| The families of both boys sat at opposite ends of the public benches as the court heard how Bailey had collapsed under a TV screen used to display school announcements near the main entrance, having staggered some 50 metres along a corridor known as “the street”, where pupils would gather in seating bays over lunchtime. | |
| Advocate depute Alex Prentice, prosecuting, took Muirhead through 30 photographs of the area, showing all the familiar signposts of school life: the queueing wall for the canteen, coloured recycling bins and seating bays, now disrupted by police tape and bloodied first aid kit. | |
| She described both the accused and Bailey as quiet boys. . She said that the accused, who listened intently throughout her testimony, had a group of friends and was “quiet, unassuming, he didn’t push himself forward, but he was not known to be in any trouble”. | She described both the accused and Bailey as quiet boys. . She said that the accused, who listened intently throughout her testimony, had a group of friends and was “quiet, unassuming, he didn’t push himself forward, but he was not known to be in any trouble”. |
| According to Muirhead, Bailey began school life as a “bit of a loner”, having joined the first year of Cults Academy at the end of the school year. “But he soon found a friendship group, right up to 5th year. He seemed to thrive.” | |
| Muirhead also told Prentice that there had been an occasion, some years prior to the events of 28 October when she had to speak to the accused about the dangers of carrying a knife. | Muirhead also told Prentice that there had been an occasion, some years prior to the events of 28 October when she had to speak to the accused about the dangers of carrying a knife. |
| The trial continues. | The trial continues. |