Jury retires in trial of schoolboy accused of trying to murder teacher

A jury has retired to consider its verdicts in the trial of a schoolboy accused of trying to murder a teacher.

The 16-year-old defendant, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has pleaded not guilty to attempting to murder Vicki Williams at Milford Haven Comprehensive School in February.

The boy, who was 15 at the time of the alleged attack, is accused of deliberately stabbing Mrs Williams in the head.

Earlier in the trial, the boy told the court Mrs Williams had seen him with the knife and “tried to grab it” from him. He said he “accidentally assaulted her” during the struggle.

Swansea Crown Court previously heard the boy approached her desk on the afternoon of February 5 this year to ask her to check his work.

It was when he shut the door to the classroom, saying it was cold, that “alarm bells” began to ring in her head.

The jury was told the student then pulled a large kitchen knife from his bag, allegedly striking her in the head.

The court previously heard a “violent struggle” ensued in which Mrs Williams tried to take the knife from him before he ran from the school.

The jury was shown CCTV of the teenager leaving the premises, before he went to his grandmother’s home, telling her: “Something went in my head, nan.”

Matthew Roberts KC, defending, previously suggested the student had brought the kitchen knife into school in order to “show off” to other boys.

He said: “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 previously heard Mrs Williams attended hospital in Haverfordwest and was found to have sustained a wound to her scalp, scratches on her back and minor cuts to her hands.

The boy denies attempted murder, unlawful wounding and wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.