Pupil who stabbed teacher in the head in Pembrokeshire, Wales, sentenced

A schoolboy who stabbed a teacher in the head has been sentenced to four-and-a-half years in youth detention.

The 16-year-old attacked Vicki Williams at Milford Haven Comprehensive School in Pembrokeshire in February.

The boy, who was 15 at the time of the attack and cannot be named for legal reasons, was found guilty of wounding with intent in July, after being acquitted by a jury of attempted murder.

Passing sentence, Judge Paul Thomas KC said it was "pure luck" the history teacher had not been seriously injured or worse.

He said: "I don't know why you attacked Mrs Williams with that knife, you never told anybody why you did it.

"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."

The judge added that the defendant planned the attack "in advance", despite knowing what he was going to do was "very wrong".

"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," he said.

"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 judge added that the teenager had never shown any remorse for what he had done and the courts "have to try to keep teachers safe from attacks on them by pupils".

"I want anyone who is ever thinking in the future of doing the same to know what will happen to them if they do," he said.

The boy was also sentenced for possessing a kitchen knife on the school grounds, which he had previously admitted. No separate penalty was imposed.

During the trial, the teenager told the court Mrs Williams had "tried to grab" the knife after seeing it in his rucksack.

He said he "accidentally assaulted her" in the ensuing struggle.

Teacher believed she was dying after attack

The boy approached the teacher's desk on the afternoon of 5 February 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.

He then pulled an eight-inch kitchen knife from his bag, striking her in the head.

The court heard a "violent struggle" ensued as 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 school premises before he went to his grandmother's home, telling her: "Something went in my head, nan."

Mrs Williams was taken to hospital in Haverfordwest, where she was found to have sustained a wound to her scalp, scratches on her back and minor cuts to her hands.

She told the jury she believed she was dying after the incident.

Mrs Williams said in her victim impact statement it had been an "emotional rollercoaster" since the incident and she was yet to return to work.

"I don't think I could be the same teacher I was before," she said.

"All it would take is a pupil to ask for help, like he did, and I will freak out.

"I'm scared of being alone with the children in school, which I would be if I went back to work."

Matthew Roberts KC, defending, said the incident was "out of character" for the teenager.

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