Teacher ‘feared she would die’ after being stabbed in head by pupil, court hears

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Teacher ‘feared she would die’ after being stabbed in head by pupil, court hears

A woman smiling at the camera. It is a head and shoulders shot. She has blonde hair and a red top on.
ByMeleri Williams

BBC WalesReporting fromSwansea Crown Court
  • Published

A teacher who was stabbed in the head by a pupil with a large kitchen knife feared she would die, a court has heard.

The boy, 16, followed Vicki Williams into a classroom at Milford Haven Comprehensive School in Pembrokeshire, and asked for help with his history work.

Swansea Crown Court heard he then “lunged” at her with the knife, stabbed her in the head, and pushed her back into a chair.

Williams told the jury she believed she was about to die, thinking: “I’m dying. I’m not going to see my daughter again.”

The teenager, who cannot be named due to his age, denies attempted murder, wounding with intent and unlawful wounding, but previously admitted possessing a knife.

On the second day of the trial Williams told the jury she had taught the boy earlier that day and that he was “absolutely fine” in that lesson.

She said she could not recall any problems with him previously and that she believed they got on well.

She said it was “unusual” for him to come to her classroom to clarify work and that he was a “low work ability child”, but she agreed he may have had a “wake up call” after mock exams.

Describing the moments before the alleged attack, Williams said the defendant asked her to help him with his history work, repeatedly asking “is that right?” as he pointed at his book.

“All the time, he’s ruffling in his bag, he’s not looking at [the book],” Williams said.

“It’s a tactic to keep me talking. He’s then trying to creep. It’s a slow movement to try and get behind me.”

The teacher said the teenager pulled “something out of the bag”, and knocked her to her chair, adding: “I look up and the knife is point-end down.

“It felt very heavy, like a lot of pressure. As he’s making a stabbing motion, I grab the knife.

“The look was pure hatred. The eyes, it was pure hatred, they were definitely not vacant.”

A brown school wall with a silver railing above and a police van parked outside. In the background is a blue school sign.Image source, Pembrokeshire Herald

‘I need help’

Defence barrister Matthew Roberts KC asked Williams whether she asked the boy to take the weapon out of the bag.

But she told the jury “that is absolutely not what happened”, and denied that it was “a scuffle”.

“I know that I’ve been stabbed in the head,” she recalled.

“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” and that it was “categorically an attack on me”.

“This is something I have to relive every day,” she said.

‘She just looked horrific’

The school’s safeguarding lead gave evidence to the court, saying Williams looked “horrific” after the attack.

“She showed me her head and she said, ‘he got me in the head’,” said Catherine Wilcox.

“I could just see blood… her hair was all over the place.

“Vicki always presents herself so well, and she just looked horrific.

“Her skin was the colour of a dead body.”

Henry Foster, of Dyfed-Powys Police, told the jury there was no CCTV in the classroom, only in the school corridors, where the boy was captured entering and leaving Williams’ classroom.

The jury then saw footage of him running out of the school building, before slowing his pace and walking away from the school grounds.

The jury previously heard how Williams fought the boy off by holding his arm and the knife.

They were shown CCTV footage which showed him running out of the classroom about two minutes later, with Williams exiting the room with the knife in her hand.

The police and emergency services were called following the incident and the school was placed in temporary lockdown and was closed the following day.

Williams suffered several injuries, including a 7cm (2.8 in) wound to her lower back, and was taken to Withybush Hospital in Haverfordwest.

The boy was later arrested at his grandmother’s house.

The trial continues.

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