A schoolgirl has been detained for 15 years for attempting to murder two teachers and a pupil by stabbing them with a blade at a school in south Wales.
The girl, who was 13 at the time, attacked Fiona Elias and Liz Hopkin and the pupil during a breaktime at Ysgol Dyffryn Aman in Ammanford, Carmarthenshire.
She had admitted three counts of wounding with intent and a further count of possession of a bladed article at a school but denied the attempted murders. However, she was found guilty of the offences by a jury at Swansea crown court.
The girl, who cannot be named, will be eligible for release on licence after serving half of the sentence but the judge, Paul Thomas KC, told her she could be recalled to custody if she behaved badly again once freed.
The jury heard how on 24 April last year, the girl told Elias: “I’m going to kill you. I’m going to fucking kill you,” and started to stab her. At one point, the girl dropped the blade but she picked it up and attacked Hopkin.
The girl moved away and allegedly called out to a female pupil: “I’m going to fucking kill you.” She ran towards her, pointing the blade at her, and stabbed her.
Hopkin sustained leg, chest, shoulder and neck injuries. Elias was wounded in the arm and hand. The pupil who was attacked sustained an arm injury.
After the stabbing, the teenager told police officers: “That’s one way to be a celebrity,” adding: “I’m pretty sure this is going to be on the news, so more eyes are going to be looking at me.”
The judge told the girl: “You tried to kill three people, two teachers and another pupil. You came to school that day planning to do that as far as Mrs Elias was concerned. You hated her.
Referring to the remark in which she said the attack would make her famous, he said: “I believe what you did that day you did above all for attention, attention which perhaps you haven’t had from others in your life in the past in the way that you would have wanted. I think in a weird way you enjoyed the reaction and publicity.”
He added: “I don’t think you are genuinely sorry. I don’t think you really care much if at all about [what the three victims] suffered.”
Thomas said the girl had made a “serious threat” to someone while being held in custody after the attacks and accepted she would pose a “potential risk” when she was finally released. He said: “A lot depends on how you change and mature and that can’t be predicted at the moment.”
The blade the girl used in the attempted murders was her father’s, and used for fishing.
In her victim impact statement, Elias said: “I will never forget the moment I saw the tip of the blade. That image is etched into my mind; it returns often, especially when I’m alone. It’s a moment that replays itself over and over.”
Addressing her attacker, she said: “Your motive was clear: you intended to murder me. You didn’t manage to finish what you started … You have put me and my family and the entire school through hell.”
Elias told the teenager she hoped she could find a way forward and “make something good out of this dark chapter”. She said: “If you make the right choices there are opportunities for you – please take them.”
Hopkin also addressed the girl directly, telling her: “You have been with me every single day since 24 April last year. You have filled my thoughts every day since.” She added: “I worry about your future. I don’t want you punished for ever. I hope you find a way forward.”
Hopkin said the attack had been “the worst experience of my life” but added she was glad she had been there to protect Elias and stopped the girl becoming a murderer. She said: “I will always be proud of what I did.” Hopkin said the thought of returning to teaching filled her with dread.
Caroline Rees KC, defending, said the girl had difficulty expressing emotions but had expressed remorse. She said she was a “very complicated” child who had suffered “significant adversity” and had “slipped through the net”. But Rees said: “She is so young there is a possibility for change.”
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