Precursor to kiddies' knives? Their phones

WHEN John Hopkin found his wife Liz with blood pumping from her neck, having been stabbed by a 13-year-old girl at the school they both worked at, he feared she would die.

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The weapon - a multi-tool knife with a two-and-a-half-inch blade that also left the victim with deep wounds in her leg and back - belonged to the child's father.

During her trial at Swansea Crown Court, it emerged that the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had been carrying a knife since primary school.

In her first interview following the potentially fatal attack at Ysgol Dyffryn Aman in Carmarthenshire in April 2024, Mrs Hopkin says she "could never" return to work. She can no longer so much as walk past a school. Meanwhile, her teenage attacker has been detained for 15 years.

The usual hot air and waffle have been spouted. A disturbed childhood, mental health issues and an obsession with Hitler, weapons and war were among the child's problems. I'm not buying that as to blame.