A teenager has been found guilty of wounding with intent after stabbing a teacher in the head at a school in Wales, but was cleared of attempted murder
A schoolboy has been cleared of attempted murder after stabbing a teacher in the head.
The 16-year-old defendant, who cannot be named due to legal reasons, was convicted by a jury of wounding with intent following his attack on Vicki Williams at Milford Haven Comprehensive School in Pembrokeshire in February.
Swansea Crown Court previously heard that the student, who was 15 at the time, stabbed the history teacher after asking her to review his schoolwork. Earlier in the trial, he informed the court Mrs Williams had spotted the knife in his rucksack and “tried to grab it” from him. He stated he “accidentally assaulted her” during the subsequent struggle.
On Monday, a jury found him guilty of wounding with intent to cause serious bodily harm but not guilty of attempted murder.
Swansea Crown Court had earlier heard that the boy approached her desk on the afternoon of February 5 to request her to check his work.
Mrs Williams said “alarm bells” started ringing in her head when he closed the classroom door, claiming it was cold. The jury was informed that the student then drew a large kitchen knife from his bag, hitting her in the head.
The court was told that a “violent struggle” followed in which Mrs Williams tried to seize the knife from him before he fled from the school.
Mrs Williams was treated at a hospital in Haverfordwest and was found to have suffered a wound to her scalp, scratches on her back and minor cuts to her hands.
During the trial, Matthew Roberts KC, defending, suggested that the student had brought the kitchen knife into school to “show off” to his peers.
The teenager had previously admitted to possessing a kitchen knife on the school premises. Mr Roberts informed the jury: “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 jury was shown CCTV footage of the teenager leaving the school grounds, before he went to his grandmother’s house, telling her: “Something went in my head, nan.”
Christopher Rees KC, prosecuting, stated in his closing speech last week: “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.”
Mrs Williams told the jury she believed she was dying after the incident, which the prosecution described as a “sustained attack” and would have continued had the teacher not disarmed him.
The jury reached a majority verdict of 11 to one to convict the boy of wounding with intent after just over four hours of deliberation on Monday.
He is set to be sentenced on September 3 at Swansea Crown Court.
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