Schoolboy relives horror of hammer attack

Henry said he had turned away from the fight when he was attacked from behind with a claw hammer outside his school.

He was left with permanent brain damage.

The 16-year-old stood in the witness box yesterday to watch a video of the police interview he gave shortly after the attack at Ridgeway School.

In the footage Henry said he could "see stars" as the hammer was rammed into the back of his head.

"I went down to the tennis courts and then these men came through the gate and they looked at me," he said in the interview.

"The one in the black jacket pushed me, then started punching and I tried to walk away.

"That's when I was hit on the back of the head.

"Then I fell to the floor and I was screaming."

Despite his serious head injuries, Henry remained conscious throughout.

Speaking to police officers he described the moment he was struck with the hammer.

"I heard screams, then I was punched in the back of my head," said the rugby-playing teenager.

"They were all kicking me when I felt the two big hits. I was curled up on the floor but they kept repeatedly hitting me.

"Then I felt the hammer hit the back of my head. I know it was a hammer because if it was a punch, your vision does not change. As I got hit my vision turned to stars - it all separated, what I could see because it was so powerful.

"It was the same with several other hits.

"They were only attacking my head. I had no other injuries. They surrounded me kicking my hands to stop me holding my head - then they ran off. I got up, stumbled about three steps and fell over."

Henry said he had seen at least five adults walking towards him across the school tennis courts just before the attack, but could only describe two.

He also told how his injuries would stay with him for the rest of his life.

"The hammer had gone through my head, through my skull and into the fluid in my brain," he said.

"I have been told I will never recover, because the brain cells will not reform."

Henry described how he had been insulted by one of the boys earlier in the school day and the pair had agreed to a fight.

"He said If you want to sort this out, down the tennis courts, me and you, after school,'" he recalled.

"I said: Okay then, as long as it's one on one'.

"Everyone from the school was going down because they all knew there was going to be a fight."

Henry is expected to return to the witness box today to give further evidence.

He will be allowed to take regular breaks during his evidence because his brain injury means he can no longer concentrate for more than 20 minutes at a time.

A JURY has been told the brutal attack on Henry Webster was like something from a violent movie.

James Patrick for the prosecution said: "For those who watched it, it made a sickening sight.

"The sort of violence you would expect to see in a Quentin Tarantino film, certainly not in a playground, in a school, in a village, in Wiltshire.

"The victim is Henry Webster.

"At the time he was 15 but a 6ft 2in rugby player and of very distinctive appearance from his red hair.

"There had been trouble earlier in the day and a fight was arranged for the tennis courts at the school at the end of the day.

"Henry had agreed to be there. It was to be a fair fight. One on one, or so he thought.

"He hadn't reckoned on the fact that it wasn't going to be one on one. It was going to be significantly more."

He added: "He was attacked by a group, some of them pupils from the school, others travelled there for the fight.

"He was knocked to the ground.

"He was kicked and punched then violently beaten about the head with a hammer.

"Amazingly, Henry remained conscious throughout."

Teachers at Ridgeway school administered first aid while waiting for an ambulance to arrive. Several witnesses saw the attack and Henry bleeding on the floor.

"His mother arrived as he was getting into the ambulance," said Mr Patrick.

"You can probably imagine what she felt when she saw that sight."

Mr Patrick said that Henry had argued with the 15 and 16-year-old defendants earlier during the school day.

He said Henry had bumped into the two former Ridgeway pupils in the school's conservatory during the first break, at around 11am.

The three boys again argued later in the day, and agreed to meet for a fight after school.

Mr Patrick said that the 15-year-old defendant, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had then been heard saying in a phone call: "It's your little brother. There's a big fat ginger kid who wants a fight at school."

Mr Patrick explained that mobile phone records of all of the suspects in the case had been examined and a large group of Asian males had used text messages and mobile phone calls to arrange travelling from Swindon to the Wroughton school for the fight.

Making his opening statement in court yesterday, Mr Patrick explained to the jury: "There is no dispute that Henry Webster was viciously attacked.

"There is no dispute that he was wounded.

"There was a wound to his head and he was bleeding profusely.

"There is no dispute that he was very seriously injured.

"There is no dispute that these injuries amounted to grievous bodily harm.

"There is no dispute that there were a number of people involved in this vicious attack.

"There is no dispute that this was a joint enterprise, a joint venture with these defendants playing parts in the attack.

"What is the issue for you to decide is, are you sure for each of the four defendants concerned that each one was part of that joint plan, part of that joint attack?"

HENRY Webster was attacked with a claw hammer on the tennis courts of Ridgeway School, Wroughton, on January 11, 2007.

During the assault he was also punched and kicked as he lay on the ground bleeding.

A large number of pupils and parents are believed to have witnessed the incident, which took place as students made their way home at around 4pm.

Sixteen people have been charged in connection with the assault.

Wasif Khan, 18, of Caversham Close, Amjad Qazi, 19, of Broad Street, a 15-year-old and a 16-year-old boy who cannot be named for legal reasons have all pleaded not guilty to wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and conspiracy to cause GBH.

The trial at Bristol Crown Court is expected to last up to six weeks.

The trial continues.

The case has been split into two trials to make it easier to manage, and is being heard in Bristol so jurors will not have prior knowledge of the incident or Ridgeway school.

The second trial will be held in February. Kamren Khan, 19, Javed Khan, 20, Mizanur Rahman, 20, Roubel Meah, 20, Aqduss Rauf, 18, Bilal Yaqub, 18, Mahbob Ali, 18, and two youths who cannot be named are accused of conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm for their involvement in planning the attack.

Since the assault on Henry, the school has stepped up security, improving CCTV camera coverage, building a higher fence and blocking access through the tennis court.