Blundell’s hammer attack was typical of sleepwalking – expert

A boarding school student who attacked two sleeping classmates and his tutor with a hammer was sleepwalking, an expert told the court.

The 17-year-old defendant, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is accused of the attempted murder of two pupils and Henry Roffe-Silvester at Blundell’s School in Tiverton, Devon, in June 2023.

Sleep forensic expert Dr Mark Pressman told Exeter Crown Court that the defendant’s attack was “a textbook example of sleepwalking violence”.

The defense believes the teenager carried out the hammer attacks, but claims he was sleepwalking at the time. The student denies three counts of attempted murder.

The court heard how Dr Pressman, who has 42 years’ experience in the field and treated 20,000 patients, had seen more than 100 cases of sleepwalking violence.

He said sleepwalkers may fear for their lives and “respond with violence to protect themselves at a very primitive level.”

Dr. Pressman said: “The defendant turned around and attacked his caretaker without knowing who he was.”

“He didn’t know he had attacked the janitor.”

Dr. Pressman further described the attack on Mr Roffe-Silvester as “a textbook example of sleepwalking violence”.

He said there were no witnesses to the attacks in the dormitory and said both students and the dormitory manager were attacked while the accused was sleepwalking.

Both students suffered serious head injuries in the hammer attacks while they were sleeping in their dormitory beds.

When Mr Roffe-Silvester tried to investigate the incident, he was hit six times with a hammer.

The defendant said he slept with a hammer under his pillow and one next to his bed and claimed he was stressed by a blackmailer and his exams.

Relatives of the defendant reported to the court cases of sleepwalking in their family.