Boy sentenced for stabbing teacher in head after asking about homework

A 16-year-old boy who stabbed a teacher in the head at Milford Haven Comprehensive School in Pembrokeshire, Wales, has been sentenced to four-and-a-half years in youth detention. The teenager, who was 15 at the time of the attack, was found guilty of wounding with intent after a jury acquitted him of attempted murder.

The victim, teacher Vicky Williams, was attacked inside a classroom after the boy approached her and asked her to check his homework. Passing sentence, Judge Paul Thomas KC said it was “pure luck” that Williams had not suffered more serious or fatal injuries.

“I don’t know why you attacked Mrs Williams with that knife, you never told anybody why you did it,” the judge said. “I think it may have been that in some way she had upset you, but I don’t know for certain why. What I do know for certain is that you took a knife that day to school because you wanted to really hurt her with it.

“You knew what you were going to do was very wrong, but you had planned it in advance. You knew she would not be any physical match for you and when you stabbed her in the top of her head with the knife, you knew that at the very least that might cause her a great deal of harm. It was pure luck that she did not have far worse injuries, maybe even fatal injuries. You could have killed her, although the jury found that you didn’t mean to go that far.”

The attack took place on February 5 at the secondary school in Milford Haven. During the trial, prosecutors argued that the teenager had taken the knife to school with the intention of attacking Williams. Christopher Rees KC, prosecuting, described the incident as a “murderous attack”.

“The prosecution say the defendant planned and launched a murderous attack,” Rees told the court. “He deliberately stabbed Vicki Williams in the head.” Williams told the court that she saw “pure hatred” in the teenager’s eyes during the attack and believed she was going to die.

“I knew I had been stabbed to the head. I am fearful of dying. I have seen the size of the knife. All I am thinking about is: ‘I need help,’” she said. “I was in shock. My first thought is: ‘I am dying.’” She added: “Those eyes are not something I am going to forget quickly. The look was pure hatred.”

The court heard that Williams and the teenager had known each other for years without previous problems. Prosecutors said he tried to get behind her while rummaging through his bag before producing the knife and lunging at her. Williams fought back and attempted to grab the weapon before being pushed onto a chair. The teenager fled after she shouted for help, while the school was placed into lockdown.

The boy denied deliberately stabbing Williams and claimed she was injured accidentally during a struggle over the knife after she spotted it in his bag. He told the jury that he had been looking for a rubber when Williams noticed the weapon and ordered him to hand it over. “I didn’t want to get into trouble by having a knife in school, so that’s why I didn’t give it to her,” he said.

He claimed that the knife was “going everywhere” during a struggle lasting about 10 seconds and denied lunging at Williams. The teenager also told the court that he and his friends had previously dared each other to bring “random household objects” into school to see what they could “get away with”.

He said he chose the largest knife from a kitchen block because he wanted “the most impressive one to show his friends”. He had previously admitted possessing a knife on school premises. Following the incident, Milford Haven School said its priority was supporting pupils, staff and families.

“Following the very distressing incident that took place in school last week, we want to take a moment to acknowledge how unsettling this has been for our whole community. Our priority now is to support pupils, staff and families as we move forward together,” the school said.

“We want to reassure you that Milford Haven School remains a safe and caring environment. We are incredibly proud of how bravely, calmly and maturely pupils and staff responded and we will continue to work closely with the police, the local authority and our wider community to ensure everyone feels supported.”