Murdered Luke's parents attack inquiry

The parents of murdered 14-yearold Luke Walmsley reacted furiously today to a report into his death which blamed a "culture of fighting" and said his killer should never have been allowed at school.

Jayne Walmsley challenged Paul Tudor, author of the inquiry, saying it failed to address the reasons which led to her son's death.

Criticising the inquiry for offering no recommendations, she said: "As Luke's mum I feel you have picked my son's school life to pieces." Killer Alan Pennell, then 15, was fuelled by peer pressure when he stabbed the boy through the heart at Birkbeck School, North Somercotes, Lincolnshire, officials said.

Describing the premeditated murder in 2003 as an "extraordinary event" which did not result from bullying, the "serious case review" found Pennell's history of unruly behaviour and school suspensions was not properly recorded and the attack could not have been predicted.

Luke's father Paul Walmsley said: "With the record of violence that [Pennell] had, nothing had been followed through, nothing had been looked at properly." Mrs Walmsley added: "All you have done for Alan Pennell is make excuses. [He] was one of three or four boys that were constantly bullying our son."

The independent inquiry, commissioned by the Lincolnshire Area Child Protection Committee, looked into Pennell's aggressive behaviour before the murder, for which he was detained for life.

Mr Tudor stated: "The interactions between Alan and Luke and other male young people represented a culture of violence." The review made recommendations for schools to deal with sharp instruments such as knives.