The former best friend of Bailey Gwynne’s killer said the youth had a “horrible and weird obsession” with knives.
As the 16-year-old started a nine-year custodial sentence last night, his pal said that although he knew he took weapons to school all the time, he never believed he would use them.
The fellow Cults Academy pupil, who is also 16, said: “I knew him very well – he was my best friend throughout high school.
“I was with him all the time and during the incident. I was one of the eyewitnesses.
“I can’t get the images out my head.”
He added that the killer often took weapons, including blades, to the school, but said he never believed he planned to use them.
“He regularly carried knives,” he added “He likes violent stuff.
“He’s got a really horrible, weird obsession with knives, knuckle dusters, matches and lighters.
“He sometimes used to take them to school in his pocket.
“He never bought them to use it, but he is just interested in this kind of stuff.
“He would never shy away from a fight. He wouldn’t start them all the time, but if someone started one with him he wouldn’t back off.
“I wasn’t friends with Bailey, or enemies, I just knew him.
“I’d known him quite a long time. I talked to him and he was a really nice guy.
“He did not deserve what happened to him.
“He started the fight but he didn’t realise it would be that serious – he just wanted to defend his mum.
The teenager said Bailey and his killer “just didn’t like each other.
He said he was shocked when the pair started fighting after an argument developed over a biscuit – and did not want to intervene.
He said: “I didn’t want to step in, and thank God I didn’t, because it was that fast.”
He said Bailey’s killer took a knife out of his pocket and “stabbed him right in the stomach”.
He added: “It wasn’t a penknife, it was a pocket knife – it would extend to a full sized knife.
“There was blood everywhere and everybody just stopped.”