A teenage girl who stabbed a classmate in the neck while shouting 'I want to kill you, I hate you' has been locked up as a last resort. The attacker, then 13, used a Stanley blade to repeatedly lunge at the victim at her Birmingham school, captured on CCTV.
She had earlier posted disturbing social media content about the other girl, including displaying her name on a gravestone. Later, she confessed she had wanted to kill her and wrote 'LMAO' about the incident in her diary, where she also described eating the victim's organs and setting fire to her eyeballs.
The victim, in the same year group, suffered a cut behind her ear and scratches to her face. The defendant, now 15 and unnamed, admitted possessing a knife on school premises and was found guilty of wounding with intent, though cleared of attempted murder.
On June 8 at Birmingham Crown Court, she was sentenced to three years and four months detention, a last resort in youth cases. Justice Christina Lambert DBE deemed her comments about killing the victim as 'bravado'. She stated: 'Taking a knife onto school premises, which should be a place of safety, and using it in the presence of other children with the intention of causing really serious injury is very serious indeed. Only a term of detention is appropriate.'
The trial heard the defendant was in a relationship with another girl and alleged bullying by the victim. Days before the attack, she expressed hatred on social media and boasted about killing her. She prepared by taking a Stanley knife to school and locating the victim's morning schedule. The attack lasted over 30 seconds, with the defendant shouting 'die b****' as another pupil intervened. Staff broke them up, and the defendant discarded the weapon in a bin.
When asked why she used a knife instead of fist fighting, she replied: 'I didn't want her to survive. I wanted to kill her.' Her 'cold and emotionless' demeanor was noted. A diary seized from her room also referenced wanting to kill her father. Of the attack, she wrote: 'Today I tried to stab (the victim) LMAO. I stabbed her neck but the f****** blade wasn't sharp enough to cut through. Anyways, she's still alive, sadly, and I'm permanently excluded. I just want my phone back LOL.'
While in youth detention, she was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, but Justice Lambert concluded it did not influence her attack. She told the girl: 'Although I know you have reported you were bullied, I do not find this reduces your blameworthiness.' A youth offending worker noted significant progress but lack of remorse. Defence lawyer Alison Scott-Jones said the girl recognised she deserved punishment and that the experience has been punitive enough.
The girl will serve 40% of the sentence (about 486 days) in custody before release on licence, with 405 days already served on remand counting toward that.
