The Blundell’s School hammer attacker was “non-violent,” the court ruled.

A deputy caretaker told a jury she was “completely stunned” when she heard a teenager attack three people with claw hammers.

The defendant is on trial for the attempted murder of two classmates, then 15 and 16 years old, and his caretaker Henry Roffe-Silvester.

The jury heard the Blundell’s School pupil was known to sleepwalk.

The defendant, who cannot be named for legal reasons and is now 17 years old, denies three charges of attempted murder.

Kate Woolford, who has worked at the Tiverton school for 23 years, told the jury at Exeter Crown Court she believed the incident was “so far removed from anything the defendant would have been involved in”.

She said she knew the defendant “very well” but could not remember him sleepwalking.

“I never saw it, no memory of sleepwalking, I didn’t even talk about it,” she told the jury.

However, a student defense witness told the court he “knew there was a problem with his sleepwalking.”

He said two staff members told him about the “difficulties with sleepwalking.”

The student added that staff said the defendant would make noises while walking around “in the middle of the night.”

The student said the defendant was “pretty calm and could handle things” but was “not overly talkative or extroverted.”

“He was very nice, he was never really annoying or rude,” he said.

The court was told during the trial that the defendant was willing to cause injury.

Ms Woolford said he had a “very outgoing demeanor and was always grateful for everything I did for him”.

“He was absolutely respectful and kind.”

A matron at the school, Catriona Cruickshank, said the defendant was “non-violent and non-physical”.

“I can’t imagine anyone less likely to have committed this act.”

She said the defendant was “understated and quiet”.

She told the jury: “He just did his thing. He was always polite and greeted me with a smile.”

“He was the type of boy who would rather walk away to avoid any confrontation.”

The two boys suffered head and other injuries in the hammer attack, and the caretaker also suffered head injuries after being struck six times with a hammer as he went to investigate the incident.

The defendant said he armed himself with hammers to protect himself from the zombie apocalypse and claimed he was sleepwalking and dreaming at the time of the attacks.

Ms Woolford, who was in charge of student welfare, admitted in court that there were “definitely concerns” about the impact and the fact that parents would take their children out of school following the attacks.