Mother outraged as 14-year-old who stabbed daughter avoids jail

The mother of a schoolgirl stabbed by a teenage boy after rejecting his advances has condemned the decision to keep him out of prison as a “disgrace”.

After the 14-year-old turned him down, the boy followed her to a shop in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, and waited outside with a blade in his pocket before attacking her on the morning of March 15 this year.

The assault has left the girl suffering nightmares and too frightened to manage everyday activities on her own, the court was told.

Her mother, who has not been named, said the family feels “failed” and “incredibly let down” by the sentence.

Speaking to the BBC, she said: “If you’re big enough to commit an adult crime, you should have the punishment, regardless of your age. It was not a petty crime – it wasn’t petty theft.

“I feel angry. We’re incredibly let down; we feel like everyone’s failed us.

“It’s disgusting. It’s absolutely disgraceful after watching [footage of the attack] that someone can say the guidelines are first offence and the injuries weren’t life-threatening.”

She added: “I want some justice for my child – I want some protection.”

The boy avoided a custodial sentence and was instead given a three-year restraining order and a one-year referral order after admitting wounding with intent, inflicting grievous bodily harm and possessing a bladed article in a public place.

The defendant, who is from Wiltshire, had become obsessed with the girl, a schoolmate, Bristol Crown Court heard last month.

After she rejected him in December last year, he began contacting her through messages sent from fake social media accounts.

CCTV footage shows him walking calmly towards the girl in the convenience store before launching the repeated knife attack.

NEXT UP: Broadcaster Emma Willis Scandal And Controversy Explained – NewsFinale

He pursued her around the shop, then continued the chase after she escaped outside.

A quick-thinking shopkeeper intervened and tried to pull the attacker away, but was stabbed himself during the struggle.

The schoolgirl suffered wounds to her neck, hands and face, as well as bruising to her back.

Police arrested the boy near the shop shortly afterwards and found a knife in his pocket.

In a statement read to the court, the girl said: “I’m scared and nervous anywhere that I go.

‘Even if someone puts their hand up next to me I flinch as I don’t know what they are about to do to me. I know this is as a result of the incident, as I wasn’t like this before.

‘I was in so much shock after it happened. I didn’t leave the house for a couple of days. I never thought something like this would ever happen to me, or anyone I know at all.

‘I’ve been having nightmares since; I relive the incident, but in these dreams it happens in different places. I sleep in the dark but when I wake, I constantly feel like there is a presence in the room. I can’t stop thinking about it.

‘This is going to affect my ability to trust people. I’m now getting dropped off to work because I don’t want to be outside on my own. I shouldn’t have to feel like this as a teenager in my own area.’

Speaking after the sentencing, Detective Superintendent Ian Fletcher, Head of Serious and Complex Investigations, said: ‘This was a frenzied attack that took place in broad daylight.

‘The victim was stabbed multiple times with a knife and has been very, very lucky to get away with only minor injuries. We could easily have been looking at a fatal incident if that knife had pierced her anywhere else.

‘My hope now is that the victim is able to move on from these deeply traumatic events and start to rebuild her life again.’