A 16-year-old boy has denied attempted murder and wounding charges after allegedly attacking female teacher at Milford Haven Comprehensive School in Pembrokeshire
A schoolboy accused of stabbing a teacher intentionally singled out a young, female staff member, a court has been told.
The 16-year-old defendant, who cannot be identified due to legal reasons, has denied attempting to murder Vicki Williams at Milford Haven Comprehensive School in February. The boy, who was 15 at the time of the alleged assault, is accused of purposefully stabbing Mrs Williams in the head.
On Friday, Swansea Crown Court heard that Mrs Williams was a “lone female teacher” and an “easy target” when the boy allegedly initiated his attack. Christopher Rees KC, prosecuting, stated in his closing remarks: “He knows the truth about what he did, he just doesn’t have, I’m afraid, the courage or the remorse to tell anyone about it.
“He brought the knife into school because he planned to attack the teacher. Why Vicki Williams? Well, she was, at quarter past three, a lone female teacher, she was an easy target.
“He’s not attacked a male teacher, has he? He’s attacked one of the young, female teachers, alone in her classroom.”
The court had previously heard that the boy approached her desk on the afternoon of February 5 this year to ask her to review his work. It was when he closed the classroom door, claiming it was cold, that “alarm bells” started to sound in her mind.
The jury was informed that the student then drew a large kitchen knife from his bag, allegedly hitting her in the head. The court had previously been told a “violent struggle” took place during which Mrs Williams attempted to wrestle the knife away from him before he fled the school.
The jury was presented with CCTV footage showing the teenager departing the building, after which he made his way to his grandmother’s house, telling her: “Something went in my head, nan.”
Mr Rees stated: “The closest we will ever get to why (he) did this, because he’ll never say, is: ‘Something went in my head’. It is only because he struck the back of her skull, and she fought back, that she is here to tell you.”
Earlier during the trial, the boy informed the court Mrs Williams had spotted him with the knife and “tried to grab it” from him, during which he “accidentally assaulted her”.
Matthew Roberts KC, defending, argued: “If he was truly minded, as the prosecution say, to kill Vicki Williams, he could easily have done so. He is much stronger than Vicki, who would have not been able to, we suggest, fight him off at all.”
Mr Roberts proposed the pupil had brought the kitchen knife into school to “show off” to other boys. He stated: “There was no recorded history of conflict between (the student) and Vicki Williams.
“There is no evidence of any animosity or any ill feeling between them at all. (He), we say, had no reason whatsoever to want to hurt Vicki Williams.”
The court had earlier heard that Mrs Williams was taken to hospital in Haverfordwest and was discovered to have a wound on her scalp, scratches on her back and minor cuts on her hands.
The boy refutes charges of attempted murder, unlawful wounding and wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
The trial continues…
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