Masked boy, 16, guilty of attempted murder at Norfolk school

A 16-year-old boy has been found guilty of the attempted murder of a 15-year-old girl he stabbed in the back at Thorpe St Andrew School in Norfolk on 11 March. A jury at King’s Lynn Crown Court returned the verdict on Wednesday after three hours and 54 minutes of deliberation, according to Press Association reporting.

Prosecutor Christopher Paxton KC told the court the boy had an “obsessive and dangerous interest in killers and killing” and had written in a note about his “hatred for women”. The court heard that on 11 March he went to the school “not to learn but to kill, taking with him a kitchen knife which he used to stab” the girl “in the back”.

The boy, who was 15 at the time and is now 16, was described as “dressed in black, masked up and tooled up with a kitchen knife”. The school went into lockdown, armed police responded, and the girl was taken to hospital and later discharged. Mr Paxton said it was “sheer good fortune” she was not more badly hurt.

The boy had pleaded guilty to wounding with intent and possession of a knife at a school but denied attempted murder, and gave no evidence in his defence. Police found a “handwritten list of names” headed “‘victims’ with a question mark” after the attack.

Mr Justice Lickley adjourned the case for a report to be prepared, including an assessment of “dangerousness”, and set sentencing for 18 December at King’s Lynn Crown Court. The boy was remanded.

Sources

• Press Association via Hits Radio Norfolk — full report
• Radio X — Boy, 16, found guilty of attempted murder after stabbing girl at school
• East Renfrewshire News — Boy found guilty of attempting to murder girl he stabbed at school

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