Pupil found not guilty of attempted murder in teacher stabbing

A pupil has been found not guilty of attempted murder after stabbing his teacher in the head with a kitchen knife.

The boy, 16, followed Vicki Williams into her empty classroom at Milford Haven Comprehensive School in Pembrokeshire, after asking for help with his history work on 5 February.

He pulled a knife from his bag and lunged at her. Williams told a jury at Swansea Crown Court she feared she would die.

On Monday, he was found not guilty of attempted murder but guilty of wounding with intent, and unlawful wounding. He will be sentenced on 3 September.

The boy had previously pleaded guilty to possessing a kitchen knife on the school grounds.

Judge Paul Thomas KC accepted a majority verdict on the charge of wounding with intent, which meant at least 10 jurors agreed following four hours deliberation.

During the attack, Williams grabbed the knife, pushed the boy back with her legs, and screamed.

She received injuries to her head, back and hands after the attack.

She said the look on the teenager's face was one of "pure hatred".

During a police interview, Williams said how the boy, who was 15 at the time and who cannot be named due to his age, came to her classroom "cool and collected" at the end of the school day to ask if his "work was correct".

She said that "got [her] confused" because he had "never seemed bothered before".

It was when he shut the door to the classroom, saying it was cold, that "alarm bells" began to ring in her head.

Williams said he was trying to "keep her talking" while he was "trying to find something in his bag".

"I ask him again, 'are you sure you're alright?' And then he pulls [the knife] out of the bag and lunges at me," she said.

The boy told the court Williams had seen him with the knife and "tried to grab it" from him. He said he "accidentally assaulted her" during the struggle.

She told the court she believed she was about to die, thinking: "I'm fearful that I am dying, I've seen the knife, I know I've been stabbed, all I'm thinking at that point is, 'I need help'."

Williams said the attack "came out of nowhere".