A 13-year-old girl, driven by a distorted desire for notoriety, has been found guilty of attempting to murder two teachers and a fellow student at Ysgo Dyffryn Aman school in Ammanford, Wales. The premeditated attack, which shocked the community, unfolded on April 24th when the girl, harboring a "fishing multi-tool" concealed within her belongings, entered the school grounds. Security footage captured the unsettling moments leading up to the violence, showing the girl stabbing the floor in the auditorium before making her way to the playground where she would encounter her victims. Her chilling words, "I’m going to f***ing kill you," preceded the brutal assault on assistant headteacher Fiona Elias.
The attack began with a targeted assault on Fiona Elias, whom the girl approached with a “sinister look,” asking if she wanted to see what was in her pocket. The unsuspecting teacher was then subjected to a frenzied knife attack. As fellow teacher Liz Hopkin rushed to intervene, she too became a victim of the girl’s rage, suffering multiple stab wounds to her neck, back, legs, and arms. The chaos escalated further when the girl turned her attention to a 14-year-old student, inflicting injuries to the pupil’s upper torso and leg. Amid the pandemonium, the knife was briefly dropped but quickly retrieved by the assailant, who continued her assault on Liz Hopkin.
The terrifying ordeal finally ended when two male staff members, Stephen Hagget and Darrell Campbell, bravely intervened, subduing the young attacker. The school was immediately placed in a "code red" lockdown, confining students indoors for several hours while the authorities secured the scene. Upon her arrest, the girl’s disturbing pronouncements offered a glimpse into her twisted motivations. Inquiries about the condition of her victims – "Are they dead?" – were followed by a casual, almost flippant admission: "I stabbed her, oopsies." Her subsequent statement to police, "I’m pretty sure this is going to be on the news so more eyes will be looking at me. That’s one way to be a celebrity," revealed a deeply disturbing desire for attention and recognition, even if achieved through violence.
A search of the girl’s home unveiled further evidence of her troubled mindset. A school planner bearing the inscription "death before dishonour" and drawings depicting violence, including the phrase "cut their mouths and eyes," painted a disturbing picture of her preoccupations. One drawing was specifically labelled "Mrs Frogface Elias," further indicating a targeted animosity towards the assistant headteacher. During the trial, the girl attempted to attribute her actions to hormonal fluctuations, claiming that her period had caused her to wake up in a "bad mood." She also revealed a history of carrying a knife to school since Year 3, claiming she felt "scared and worried."
This admission, coupled with a previous incident six months prior to the attack where she was found with a vegetable knife in class and subsequently suspended, highlighted a concerning pattern of behavior that had seemingly gone unaddressed. The girl’s distorted perception of celebrity and her willingness to resort to extreme violence to attain it underscore the complex and troubling issues at play. Her attempts to rationalize her actions by blaming her emotional state raise questions about the adequacy of the support systems available to her and the effectiveness of previous interventions.
The jury ultimately found the now 14-year-old girl guilty of three counts of attempted murder following a retrial. She had previously pleaded guilty to three counts of wounding with intent and one count of possessing a bladed article on school premises. The verdict highlights the severity of her actions and the potential consequences of unchecked emotional turmoil and a warped understanding of fame. The case serves as a stark reminder of the importance of addressing mental health concerns in young people and providing adequate support systems to prevent such tragedies from occurring. The girl has been remanded into custody awaiting sentencing.
