Teacher thought she was ‘going to die’ in Ammanford school stabbing

A teacher who was stabbed by a 14-year-old girl at a Welsh school thought she was going to die, a court has heard.

Teachers Fiona Elias and Liz Hopkin, along with a student, were injured in the attack in April, at Ysgol Dyffryn Aman also known as Amman Valley School, in Ammanford, Carmarthenshire.

The girl – who cannot be named for legal reasons – previously admitted to wounding with intent but has denied attempted murder.

CCTV

Swansea Crown Court was shown CCTV footage of the girl attacking the teachers, as the trial resumed on Wednesday.

She could be seen talking with the teachers outside the main school building for a short time before launching an attack on Ms Elias, with Ms Hopkin attempting to restrain her.

She then stabbed Ms Hopkin in the leg and was able to wrestle free, dropping the knife.

The teenager then picked up the knife again and began attacking Ms Hopkins.

The jury was shown police interview footage with the teachers following the stabbing.

‘Menacing’

Ms Elias described the girl as being “very menacing” while she played with something in the right pocket of her black cargo trousers.

The teacher asked her what she was playing with, to which she responded “do you want to see what’s in my pocket?” before bringing out the knife and beginning to stab Ms Elias saying, “I’m going to f****** kill you”.

Ms Elias said: “I thought I was going to die, I thought that was it.”

“I tried to restrain her; I remember holding her arms.

“Her face – she had lost it, the red mist had come down, she had completely lost it.”

At that point, Ms Hopkin shouted, “Fiona, just go”.

Menacing

Asked to describe the girl before the attack, she said: “Very distant, very menacing.

“Just looking at me like she was going to do something to me, in a way she was looking through me.”

She described being unsure what injuries she had suffered until she was sat in the office and had taken off the yellow hi-vis jacket she had been wearing.

A colleague treated her with first aid before paramedics arrived and she was treated in Morriston Hospital.

She sustained injuries to the top of her right arm and left bicep as well as a small cut to her left hand.

The trial continues.