British teenager gets life in prison for attacking a Hong Kong housemate and two others with a hammer

A British student has been sentenced to life in prison for attacking a Hong Kong student and two others with a hammer at a boarding school in south-west England.

A jury found the 17-year-old boy, who could not be named for legal reasons, guilty of three counts of attempted murder. He denied responsibility and claimed he was sleepwalking.

Exeter Crown Court sentenced the teenager to life in prison on Friday, with the chance to apply for parole after 12 years.

The defendant tried to kill his two housemates, aged 15 and 16 at the time and including a Hong Konger, as they slept in their room at Blundell’s School in Tiverton on June 9 last year, before attacking his housemaster.

According to Devon and Cornwall Police, the court heard the suspect attacked the first victim, causing serious head injuries and damage to his ribs, lungs and spleen.

The second housemate suffered multiple skull fractures in the incident, before maths teacher and housemaster Henry Roffe-Silvester intervened and attempted to disarm the attacker.