Community response and school statements follow sentencing in Harvey Willgoose case: calls for knife arches emphasised
Ben Simpson
23 October 2025
15-year-old murder victim Harvey Willgoose

Harvey Willgoose, the teen murdered in February of this year

In the wake of yesterday’s sentencing of Harvey Willgoose’s killer, the school in which he attended have released a statement.

Harvey Willgoose was stabbed and killed at All Saints Catholic High School in February, with 15 year old Mohammed Umar Khan given 16 years for the murder at Sheffield Crown Court yesterday.

CEO of St Clare Catholic Multi Academy Trust, Steve Davies, said: “Our thoughts are first and foremost with Harvey’s family, loved ones and friends. We cannot begin to imagine the depth of their loss and our deepest sympathies go out to them today and every day.”

“Harvey was a popular, energetic and fun-loving pupil who is dearly missed every day by the whole School community.” he added.

This echoes a statement made by Notre Dame High School back in February, in which the Bishop of Hallam, Bishop Ralph Heskett, offered his blessings.

“Our prayers, and those of every parish and school, are with Harvey, his parents, family, and friends for a young life lost. In God’s peace, and in God’s presence, we must come together as a community of faith to comfort each other.”

And that very thing seems to have happened. 

Yorkshire have come together; Bramall Lane, home to Harvey’s football team Sheffield United, saw tributes of Wednesday and Rotherham shirts among the few scattered outside the ground, a poignant showing of unity against his death. 

At his public funeral, thousands came out to show their support, as his coffin, emblazoned in all things Sheffield United, drove through the city centre.

Photo of a hearse driving through the street with people either side watching
Harvey Willgoose’s public funeral in Sheffield city (Credit: Richard Wilding)

However, it’s the introduction of a knife arch in Penistone Grammar in Barnsley that parents, Mark and Caroline, hope can extend throughout Yorkshire and the rest of the country, taking real action and showing a real togetherness.

It’s the first donated by the foundation set up in Harvey’s memory. The arch reportedly cost around £2,500, according to the Principal, Peter Crook.

Knife arches are rectangular metal detectors aimed at deterring and seizing those with dangerous weapons. It’s an idea that Harvey’s family have been so insistent on.

They told Sky News that they wished to see them in “all secondary schools and colleges.”

South Yorkshire has been recorded as the area with the 3rd highest knife related offences in the country, with 10.72 offences per 10,000 residents. 

The statistics extend to offences committed by children; over the last three years, there’s been over 100 instances of knives reported in schools across the region.

The Willgoose family hope that Harvey’s legacy will help drive lasting change in how schools and communities tackle knife crime.