Boy, 16, suffered brain damage in devastating hammer attack by fellow pupil at £41,000-a-year private school Blundell's, attempted murder trial hears

A teenage boy suffered brain damage in a devastating hammer attack by a fellow pupil at £41,000-a-year private school Blundell's, an attempted murder trial has heard.

The boy, now 17, launched a violent assault against him and another student at the boarding school in Tiverton, Devon with the intent to kill, the trial previously heard.

Two of the victims, aged 16 and 15 at the time, were taken to hospital in life-threatening conditions and will never fully recover, the jury was told in April. The adult victim Henry Roffe-Silvester, 38, who was a member of staff at the school and the housemaster of the dorm, was also taken to hospital and was later discharged.

Exeter Crown Court has heard that a 16 year old pupil, who is now 17, denies the attempted murder of his two teenage roommates and the housemaster.

The defendant claims that he was sleepwalking at the time of the attacks. He said he said he bought a number of hammers to protect himself from 'the zombie apocalypse'.

Consultant radiologist Dr Richard Wellings today told the court the older pupil injured in the Blundells hammer attack suffered brain damage.

'In my opinion there are a number of multiple sites of severe blunt force trauma to his head,' he said.

Dr Wellings said there were 'at least five penetrative breaches' around the brain membrane and 'embedded bone fragments in the brain... there is extensive evidence of brain injury at multiple sites.'

He said the boy, then aged 16, sustained a significant injury and depressed skull fracture.

He said some bone fragments were forced into the teenager's brain and there was direct injury to the brain which caused damage and swelling.

Mr Kerim Fuad, KC, defending, told the consultant radiologist that the defendant 'accepts causing these injuries'.

He asked Dr Wellings if the injuries to the two boys could have been caused between 60 seconds and 120 seconds, and he replied that he had no evidence to contradict that, nor whether the defendant used one or two hammers at the same time during the incident.

The defendant denies three charges of attempted murder and his trial continues on Thursday.

The other schoolboy victim, 15, suffered 'at least fifteen wounds to his scalp', a jury heard today.

The pupil was asleep in his bed when he was attacked by a fellow pupil at Blundells boarding school in Tiverton, Devon, late one night in June last year, a court had been told.

Dr Wellings told the jury that the younger boy suffered 'at least 15 wounds to the scalp' but added: 'There may be more, but some wounds are not visible to the CT scan.'

He said the boy suffered fractures to his skull and some of the impact wounds penetrated the membranes around his brain. He also suffered rib and finger fractures.

A young pupil who went to the scene of the hammer attack in the dorm told the jury that 'it was a bloodbath'.

The youngster helped tend one of the injured boys - both suffering significant head injuries - and told the court: 'There was a lot of blood everywhere.'

The student said he asked the defendant why he had three hammers and his reply was 'for protection'.

The young pupil told the jury that the defendant claimed the oldest youth who was badly hurt had attacked him adding 'I had to hit him back'.

He also said the defendant said that he was dreaming at the time. The youngster said: 'He was rambling on. I think he was really scared.'

The defendant denies three counts of attempted murder.

The trial continues.