A public schoolboy who attacked two sleeping students and a teacher with hammers at a boarding school can now be identified as a rich Malaysian student.

Thomas Wei Huang, who turns 18 in January, has been admitted to Blundell’s School in Tiverton, Devon.

During his trial at Exeter Crown Court, jurors were told he also bought he collected three claw hammers and used the ends of his claws to smash the heads of his classmates, aged 15 and 16 at the time, last June.

He then used the DIY tools as weapons to attack Henry Roffe-Silvester, his master, who heard the disturbance and ran into the room to find a “bloodbath”.

Huang, 16 at the time of the attacks, claimed he was sleepwalking when he carried out the vicious attacks and could not be held criminally responsible for his actions.

After an eight-week trial, a jury spent around 40 hours deliberating before convicting the teenager of three counts of attempted murder against his classmates and the 39-year-old maths and sports teacher. He was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of 12 years.

“Killing Fury”

Prosecutor James Dawes KC said the young man carried out the attacks in a “murderous rage” after researching serial killers and different ways to kill.

In the month before the attacks in June 2023, the teenager had been looking for information about serial killers of children and whether they were respected in prison.

He had been listening to dance music and watching a horror show on TV in the minutes before he climbed up and struck the sleeping students who were in the chalet-style beds.

The jury was told Huang got into an argument with the youngest victim because he thought she had snubbed him during a science lesson by laughing at him.

There was also tension between him and the younger victim over the attentions of a 15-year-old girl from the co-educational school.

Defense lawyer Kerim Fuad KC said the boy at the time was “a sleep-deprived wreck and very stressed” because of upcoming exams and being blackmailed by a woman in an exploitation case.

The boy was afraid that he would send blank photos that he had sent to all his contacts if he did not pay him money.

Giving evidence, the boy said he had the hammers for protection against the zombie apocalypse, which he thought was a real thing.

Huang joined Blundell School in 2020 and was one of a number of foreign students to attend the Devon school as full-time boarders.

“Immature” boy.

During his testimony, Huang told the jury: “I wanted to come to England to study at a boarding school. I knew I would have to live at school seven days a week. I was excited to do it.”

Huang’s brother, who is two years his senior, also attended Blundell. During half-term breaks, the brothers would spend time at the family’s London home in Battersea, instead of returning to Malaysia.

After the attack, his wealthy parents flew to the UK from Malaysia to be told what had happened.

When Huang first appeared on the charge at Exeter Magistrates’ Court, he was being looked after by his parents and aunt.

The family would spend their longer holidays in Malaysia, London or Europe.

When asked if he was happy at school, Huang replied, “Yes, I was. I enjoyed the friends, the teachers and the academic aspect of it. I didn’t like sports and food at school.”

Huang said he enjoyed maths and was going to take his GCSEs in it early.

Principal Bert Wielenga wrote to parents at the school last month while Huang was being sentenced.

He wrote: “You supported each other and I felt no anger, bitterness or resentment. In all things you conducted yourself in a spirit of admirable optimism and grace.”

He added: “I have been very clear with the pupils that this is not an incident to be whispered about or to be ashamed of. It is part of our narrative, our shared story. We are allowed to talk about it openly and we can express our emotions safely.”

Before he was named, the court heard defense arguments that the “immature” boy was the victim of a sex crime – sextortion – and had a lifelong right to anonymity, and his family said the “naming and shaming” would affect them mental health and “would crush him”.

“Retired to the Online World”

The judge accepted that he was a “fraudulent victim” in the blackmail incident, but the jury rejected his claim that he was a sleepwalker.

At the hearing two weeks ago, the judge admitted the boy was stressed at the time, but added: “You knew the difference between right and wrong and you planned to kill these boys and obtained hammers as weapons.”

She said his autistic disorder meant he became increasingly isolated, living and studying at school and “withdrew into the online world”.

Mrs Justice Cutts said he posed a high level of danger to the public of further violence and it was unknown if he would ever cease to be a threat.

She said he will have to serve at least 12 years behind bars before he is eligible to apply for parole.

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