Caroline Willgoose wants to see a statutory independent review into her son’s murder so lessons can be learned nationwide
The mum of murdered schoolboy Harvey Willgoose says she felt ‘physically sick’ when she discovered his killer was so dangerous his own family even wanted him followed by police.
Caroline Willgoose, 52, is now calling for the full report into her son’s death to be released to the wider public so “lessons can be learned”.
So far All Saints Catholic High School in Sheffield has released a summary with ten recommendations. The private review commissioned by St Clare Catholic Multi Academy Trust, which runs the school, was shown to the family but never released in its entirety.
It found there had been “several missed opportunities” to address behaviour and manage risk before the stabbing. It said safeguarding and behaviour records were not requested or reviewed before Khan’s move from another school to All Saints.
READ MORE: National knife crime centre ‘victory for families of all those who have lost loved ones’READ MORE: ‘Too many red flags’ missed before schoolboy stabbed fellow pupil to death on lunch break
But Harvey’s mother says that to ‘get justice’ for her son, it needs to be released so the public can see the “whole truth”. The 36-page report, she said, revealed 130 incidents involving her son’s killer, linking him to ‘knives, weapons, gangs and anger’. But she says these early warning signs were not shared with his new school All Saints.
Harvey, 15, was fatally stabbed twice in the chest on February 3rd 2025, during the lunch break by Mohammed Umar Khan, who was then aged 15. Khan was found guilty of his murder by a jury at Sheffield crown court last year and was locked up for 16 years.
Since then Harvey’s mum has been working tirelessly to get change and in an interview with The Mirror, Caroline, 52, said: “This is going to happen again unless they are open and transparent.” It’s just as though the school has swept it under the carpet and it’s business as usual.”
Caroline, who is going to meet the Home Secretary soon to discuss knife crime, added: “One of the things that I’m gonna discuss is this managed move, just putting the problem child in another school. That’s not right. These children should be placed somewhere safe, protecting both them and other children they might harm. “
About Harvey’s killer, she said: “ So there were 130 instances in that old school he went to, involving him. He shouldn’t have been put in the mainstream school.
“His mum was so worried about him she asked for him to be followed. I felt physically sick when I read that. She was also the one who told the school about him having an axe in his gym bag. She was the only one who tried to stop him.
“His mum wanted him followed because she knew he was going to do something bad. His mum was saying, ‘I want to get to the bottom of it’. I mean to be fair to her. She told them about the axe, she said she wanted help. This could have been stopped.
“At the other school, the one before All Saints, there were so many warnings about how dangerous he was. But they didn’t know and they didn’t look into it. It’s just very hard reading and we’ve asked them to release it for public interest. Lessons must be learned from this.”
She said the school had written to them to tell them about a football game to mark the anniversary but then at the end said they would not be releasing their report.
She says there is another national report due to be released this month but that involves Harvey’s case and several others. The family really want to see a serious case review into her son’s death The mum has been devoting her time to educate young people about the horrifying cost of knife crime.
“When I did a talk with a school in Birmingham, I told them how when Umar was in the dock, the only time he showed any emotion was when he mentioned his brother and sister and parents.
“Mark told me that because I didn’t go into the gallery and I started crying and he said ‘why you crying?’ I said ‘because it’s so sad. What’s his life like? He’s not seen his bedroom since that morning, he’s not seen his parents, he has not seen brother and sister, he is having an horrible time through that one split decision.
“They kids seemed to relate to that. I got messages from them saying ‘thanks for coming’ and then they also said they would you report a knife now. That’s why I think the main thing is to educate children.”
About her own sadness, she says: “He’s just on my mind 24/7. I have recurring dreams about having a baby or looking after one and not being able to hold it or dropping it or forgetting to change a nappy. That must be about Harvey because I didn’t look after him. We were really close.
Caroline fears this sadness may never leave her: “What breaks my heart is football nets and it’s football behind them. They’re all still up there. I can’t throw them.
“His cagoule is still hanging up, his coat and his school shoes. His washing is still in my ironing things. His primary school has made a memory book for me, with all the photos of him. I haven’t looked at it, I just can’t.
“ Harvey is on my mind 24-7. I dream about him. I have this recurring dream which is really weird about having a baby, either having one or looking after one and not being able to hold it and dropping it and forgetting to change the nappy. That must be because I’ve lost him, I’ve not looked after him.
“I get this feeling when I’m in bed sometimes, we let the dogs sleep on our bed, sometimes I think it’s you know the pressure of somebody pressing on your back. I think it’s the dogs but when I turn around they are nowhere near.
“I don’t go into his bedroom very often because it’s heartbreaking. It still smells of him. The door remains shut. But I went in for a cry the other day.
“We’ve got a dog, a cockapoo, born the day Harvey passed, and he won’t even go in that room, he just looks in. It’s horrendous. I just want to spare even one family from what we have been through and I know Harvey is helping me.”
The school was contacted for comment. It is understood the report in full was shared with a number of individuals and bodies including Harvey’s family, senior figures in the Local Authority, Sheffield Safeguarding Service and the DfE to support system wide learning.
