Crown says teenage pupil planned classroom assault and intended to kill, as attempted murder trial reaches closing speeches

A TEACHER accused of being stabbed by a pupil survived only because she fought for her life, a jury has been told during the prosecution’s closing speech.

Christopher Rees KC said the teenage defendant deliberately selected the largest knife he could find, concealed it in his school bag and waited until history teacher Vicki Williams was alone before attacking her.

The 16-year-old, who was 15 at the time and cannot be named for legal reasons, denies attempting to murder Ms Williams at Milford Haven School on Thursday, February 5.

He also denies inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent and unlawful wounding. He has admitted possessing a knife on school premises.

Proceedings at Swansea Crown Court began on Friday (Jul 17) with Judge Paul Thomas KC giving the jury legal directions.

The judge told jurors they were the sole judges of the facts and must decide the case using the evidence, their collective experience and common sense.

He reminded them that the prosecution carried the burden of proving its case and that the defence did not have to prove anything.

Jurors were instructed to decide the case with their “heads, not their hearts” and to put sympathy and emotion aside.

Judge Thomas explained that if they were not sure the defendant deliberately stabbed Ms Williams, and believed the injuries were or might have been accidental, they must acquit him of all three charges.

However, if they were sure the stabbing was deliberate, they would then have to determine what the defendant intended.

An intention to kill would amount to attempted murder, while an intention to cause really serious harm could lead to a conviction for grievous bodily harm with intent. If neither intention was proved, jurors would then consider unlawful wounding.

Opening the prosecution’s closing speech, Mr Rees told the jury the central question was whether they accepted the account given by Ms Williams or that of the defendant.

“You don’t try this case on sympathy, not for Vicki or the defendant,” he said.

“You try the case on the evidence.”

Mr Rees said the prosecution’s case was that the incident was a calculated and planned attack rather than an accident during a struggle over the knife.

“This was no accident,” he said.

The prosecutor said the teenager had taken the largest knife from the kitchen at home and carried it secretly in his school bag throughout the day.

The defendant has told the jury that he brought the knife to school to show off to his friends but did not intend to use it violently.

Mr Rees said that explanation was “a lie from start to finish”, pointing out that the teenager had not shown the knife or mentioned it to any of his friends.

He said the weapon had been kept hidden because the defendant did not want anyone to intervene or alert a teacher.

The prosecution alleged that the teenager waited until the end of the school day, followed Ms Williams into her classroom and closed the door when she was alone and vulnerable.

Mr Rees said the defendant then moved behind the teacher and deliberately struck her in the back of the head with the knife.

The jury was shown CCTV footage of the defendant approaching the classroom before initially walking away.

Mr Rees claimed he had abandoned his first approach because Ms Williams was not alone and returned minutes later when he could carry out his alleged plan without being seen.

The prosecutor said the defendant had used external doors to approach the classroom because they provided a clear view inside.

He also reminded jurors of an incident two days earlier, on February 3, when one of the defendant’s friends kicked a door to Ms Williams’ classroom.

The defendant and other pupils were captured on CCTV running away and laughing following that incident.

Mr Rees said it was “no coincidence” that Ms Williams was allegedly attacked two days later.

The court was also reminded that the defendant had refused to attend a lesson on February 4, leading to his mother becoming angry with him.

“When he left the house on February 5 with that knife in his bag, he crossed the Rubicon and there was no going back,” Mr Rees said.

The prosecutor acknowledged that the Crown could not explain the defendant’s precise motive.

He suggested it could have involved a grudge or a desire for notoriety but stressed that the prosecution was not required to prove why the alleged attack happened.

Mr Rees described Ms Williams as a lone female teacher and “a vulnerable target”, telling the jury the prosecution considered it to have been a cowardly attack.

He reminded jurors of Ms Williams’ evidence that the defendant had a look of “pure hatred” on his face.

The teacher previously told the court she grabbed the blade of the knife during the struggle.

Mr Rees said a person’s natural instinct would be to avoid grabbing a blade and argued that she had done so only because she believed her life was in danger.

“She fought for her life,” he said.

The jury was reminded of medical evidence concerning the wound to the back of Ms Williams’ head.

Mr Rees said the back of the skull was particularly thick and argued that this was why the injury was not as serious as the defendant had allegedly intended.

He described the teenager’s account that the head wound occurred accidentally during a “melee” over the knife as “absurd” and “impossible”.

The prosecutor said damage to the tip of the knife was also inconsistent with accidental contact.

Mr Rees reminded jurors that the defendant fled the school following the incident and went to his grandmother’s home, where she said he told her that “something went in my head”.

The defendant has claimed he cannot remember saying those words and has maintained that he had no clear recollection of the incident for several weeks.

Mr Rees said the teenager’s grandmother had no reason to lie and argued that the comment showed he knew he had done “something terrible”.

He also referred to the defendant answering “no comment” during his police interview.

The teenager said he had done so because he could not remember what had happened, but Mr Rees argued that he had not yet devised the account he would later give.

The prosecutor contrasted the defendant’s evidence with what he described as the consistent accounts given by Ms Williams to colleagues, paramedics and police immediately after the incident.

He said none of those accounts suggested there had been an accident while she was attempting to confiscate the knife.

Mr Rees concluded that Ms Williams had been deliberately targeted and that the defendant intended to kill her when he struck the blow to her head.

He told jurors the reason she was able to give evidence was because the knife struck the thickest part of her skull and because she fought back.

The defence says the teenager brought the knife into school to show off and that Ms Williams was accidentally injured after trying to take it from him.

The defence closing speech and the judge’s summing up are expected to follow before the jury begins its deliberations.

The trial continues.

Court hears intoxicated caller wasted police resources after contacting officers from Penally caravan site

A MAN has been sentenced after falsely claiming he had been stabbed and making abusive comments during a 999 call to police.

Christopher Lawrence, 43, contacted the emergency services from the Oasis campsite in Penally on June 2, saying he wanted to report a crime.

“He told police that he had been stabbed, stating: ‘You f****** don’t care,’” Crown prosecutor Sian Vaughan told Haverfordwest Magistrates’ Court this week.

Lawrence then ended the call, but the police control room contacted him again.

He told the call handler that a man he described as “half bald” and drunk had arrived at the campsite and was threatening him.

“I’ve told the f****** police that if he comes here, I’ll go mental,” Lawrence said.

He also claimed to have suffered a stab wound to his side but said he did not require an ambulance.

When officers arrived, they found Lawrence heavily intoxicated.

“He told the officers that he had not been stabbed and had not made the call, but clearly that was not the case,” Ms Vaughan said.

Lawrence, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to sending an offensive, indecent, obscene or menacing message to police.

His solicitor, Michael Kelleher, said the offence had been driven by Lawrence’s alcohol misuse.

“What runs throughout this case is his alcohol abuse, but he is now showing a willingness to address it,” Mr Kelleher told the court.

“This functioning alcoholic wants to get to the bottom of his problem and stop offending.

“Alcohol can heighten a person’s anxiety and their perception of what is happening. There was no issue concerning his safety on this occasion, but there had been in the past, and that was playing on his mind.

“But what he did was wrong. It was a waste of police resources, and he understands how other people could have been affected by his actions.”

Lawrence was sentenced to a 12-month community order, including a nine-month alcohol treatment programme and 15 rehabilitation activity requirement days.

He was also fined £100 and ordered to pay a £114 surcharge and £85 prosecution costs.

A 56-YEAR-OLD man has admitted attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child in Saundersfoot.

Appearing before Haverfordwest Magistrates Court this week was Philip Williams, of Valley View, Saundersfoot.

The court was told that between July 20 and July 28, 2024, Williams attempted to engage in sexual communication with a 13-year-old child who was called Sam. 

During his communication with the child, Williams requested snapchat images of the child’s bottom as well as images of her wearing running leggings or tights.  This, the court, was told, was for his sexual gratification. 

But unknown to Williams, the ‘child’ was an undercover police officer.

Williams pleaded guilty to the charge of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child.

His sentencing will take place on August 4  to enable an all options pre-sentence report to be prepared by the probation service.