Schoolboy acquitted of attempted murder after stabbing teacher in head

A schoolboy has been acquitted of attempted murder after stabbing a teacher in the head.

The 16-year-old defendant, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was found guilty by a jury of wounding with intent after attacking Vicki Williams at Milford Haven Comprehensive School in Pembrokeshire in February.

Swansea Crown Court heard previously that the pupil, who was 15 at the time, stabbed the history teacher after asking her to check his schoolwork.

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

On Monday, a jury found him guilty of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm but not guilty of attempted murder.

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

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

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

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

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.

During the trial, Matthew Roberts KC, defending, suggested the student had taken the kitchen knife into school to “show off” to other boys.

The teenager had previously pleaded guilty to possessing a kitchen knife on the school grounds.

Mr Roberts told 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 of the teenager leaving the school premises, before he went to his grandmother’s home, telling her: “Something went in my head, nan.”

Christopher Rees KC, prosecuting, said 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 said was 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 will be sentenced on September 3 at Swansea Crown Court.