A 16-year-old boy accused of murdering a teenager in a school stabbing has been found guilty of the lesser charge of culpable homicide.

Bailey Gwynne, also 16, died at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary after the incident at Cults Academy on October 28 last year.

The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was cleared of murdering Bailey at the end of a five-day trial at the High Court in Aberdeen.

A jury found him guilty of culpable homicide by majority after nearly an hour and three quarters of deliberations. He is expected to be sentenced in Edinburgh on April 1.

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The court previously heard the knife pierced Bailey’s heart through his blazer and shirt, inflicting a fatal wound.

School staff and a paramedic gave evidence during the trial, recounting how attempts were made to save Bailey’s life.

The court also heard how the two boys had initially rowed over the “trivial” subject of a packet of biscuits.

In his closing speech to the jury, advocate depute Alex Prentice QC, prosecuting, said: “Bailey Gwynne had no chance. This was a lethal wound inflicted by a lethal weapon.”

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He described the row as a “silly trivial fight between two schoolboys”. However, the defence argued the wound was not intended to have such serious consequences.

In a police interview carried out shortly after the incident, the accused told police he had bought the knife to “act cool”. He said he had “tried to save” Bailey after realising how serious the injury was.

‘Extraordinary stupidity’

Defence counsel Ian Duguid QC said the jury was dealing with a “spontaneous event”.

Mr Duguid told the jury the case centred on a 30-second period in which the incident took place and warned them not to be “blinded” by prejudice about individuals who carry knives.

He argued the accused had shown “extraordinary stupidity” in having a weapon on him but that Bailey had shown “recklessness” in assaulting the youth.

The QC also maintained the Crown case missed out the evidence of four eye witnesses as to what happened that day.

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He described Bailey as the “aggressor” during the incident and said there was nothing to suggest the accused chose the spot on the chest to drive the weapon home.

“This, you might think just a chance encounter on a day when nobody was expecting anything to happen, and it built up and he was dead within perhaps two minutes of that incident, which had taken no longer than 30 seconds from start to finish,” Mr Duguid said.

The teenager was found guilty of having knives or “bladed instruments” as well as two knuckledusters “without reasonable excuse or lawful authority” on various occasions between August 19, 2014, and the day of the killing.

Following the verdict, Mr Duguid concluded: “There will be no consolation to either side of this case. It’s fair to say two families have been destroyed.”

‘Shock across the whole country’

Detective superintendent David McLaren, lead officer for Police Scotland’s north area major investigations team, said: “The death of Bailey Gwynne has had a massive impact on his family, friends, fellow pupils and staff at Cults Academy.

“The details of the case have caused shock within the local community and further afield across the whole of the country.

“The investigation into Bailey’s death involved officers from the local policing division and from national specialist units.

“Whilst the circumstances around Bailey being killed are relatively uncomplicated, it is still difficult to comprehend that he died at school at the hands of a fellow school pupil.

“It is the senseless decision to take a knife into a school setting that has undoubtedly led to Bailey’s death.

“I’d like to take this opportunity to thank those pupils and teachers who tried their best to save Bailey’s life but as we have heard during the trial, he was beyond saviour.

“Those teachers and pupils have shown incredible strength over the last week whilst giving evidence during the trial.

“Finally I’d like to pay tribute to Bailey’s family. Today won’t bring their son back, the pain of not having Bailey around will last for a very long time.

“Throughout their ordeal they have conducted themselves with the utmost dignity and are a credit to themselves as a family.”