Teenager sentenced to 15 years for school stabbings

A 14-year-old schoolgirl who attacked two teachers and a fellow pupil at a school in south Wales has been detained for 15 years for attempted murder.

- GEORGE THOMPSON

The girl, who was 13 at the time, armed herself with her father’s multi-tool before attacking teachers Fiona Elias and Liz Hopkin, and a pupil, at Amman Valley School in Ammanford,

Carmarthenshire, on 24 April last year. All three victims survived the attack, but Ms Hopkin, who was stabbed in the neck, had to be flown to Cardiff by air ambulance.

The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was found guilty of attempted murder at Swansea Crown Court following a week-long trial earlier this year.

Judge Paul Thomas KC sentenced her to be detained for 15 years, of which half is to be spent on remand. Sentencing the girl, the judge said he did not believe she had shown genuine remorse for her actions.

“I think you enjoyed the reaction and the publicity,” he said. “I don’t think you are genuinely sorry for what you did; you have said you are, but I don’t think that’s how you really feel.