Newly-identified Bailey Gwynne killer could be freed in three years

Stroud was detained for nine years by a judge at the High Court in Edinburgh in April last year after he was found guilty of culpable homicide and carrying weapons following a trial. He had been cleared of murdering Bailey.

He will be eligible for parole after serving half his sentence - which means he would walk free at the age of 21.

As he had already served about five months before being sentenced, he could go free in 2020.

Passing sentence, judge Lady Stacey told him: “Nothing that I can say nor any sentence that I impose will do anything to lessen the grief that Bailey’s family and friends feel.”

The judge ordered his supervision for two years after his release.

The trial at the High Court in Aberdeen heard the knife used in the stabbing had been bought online, without the killer having to prove his age.

Bailey, a fifth-year pupil with four younger brothers, died from bleeding caused by a single stab wound to the heart during a fight in a corridor in his lunch hour after he refused to give Stroud a biscuit.

During his murder trial Stroud, a part-time McDonald's worker said he was constantly teased about being fat and took weapons to school to try and impress the other kids.

In an interview with police played in court he said: “I never fitted in. I was just trying to be cool.”

During the interview, filmed hours after Bailey was killed, Stroud became emotional as he spoke about family problems.

His killer – said to be a troubled misfit with a difficult home life – bought the £40 knife on Amazon.

His internet search history showed he had looked up “knife merchant”, “illegal knives UK” and “knuckleduster UK”.

Ian Duguid QC, defending, told the court he planned to return to the area where he lived when released "as his family and support network are there" but said the boy had realised he faced a "very limited future".

Social workers had concluded Stroud, who had post-traumatic stress disorder, was “immature and naive” for his age and was on medicaiton for "nightmares, depression and anxiety".

Mr Duguid added: “He regrets that he has taken someone’s life. He feels very profoundly sorry. He recognises it has huge consequences for the rest of his life.

“By no stretch of the imagination could he be described as having an aggressive or violent personality.

“He acquired a lethal weapon but he has suggested that it might have been to make him look cool, which is naive.”

Duguid said the boy realised he faced a “very limited future”.

An independent review, led by child protection expert Andrew Lowe, found Bailey's death might have been avoided if those who knew his killer carried weapons had reported it to staff.

Announcing his findings in October last year, Mr Lowe made 21 recommendations, including calling on the Scottish Government to consider changing the law to give teachers more power to search pupils.

The Scottish Government said in January that it will not change the law to give teachers more power to search pupils.

Deputy First Minister John Swinney said that giving teachers such powers would place them on the same footing as police officers which would radically change the teacher/pupil relationship, and potentially damage the school ethos and commitment to positive relationships that currently exists in Scottish schools.

In a statement released on the first anniversary of Bailey's death his family said: ''It is through remembering all of the beautiful qualities that make Bailey such a special boy to us that we will find a path forward.

''A boy with dearly held dreams, with a gentle heart, comic timing and an astronomical appetite. Our beloved boy who we were blessed to have for those sixteen years and is still the cherished centre of his family.

''As a family we will always strive to be a credit to Bailey in the very same way that he is to us. We couldn't have asked any more of him.

''Our true gent and our beautiful boy. We're proud of you, Bailey boy.''