A teenager obsessed with serial killers was convicted of attempted murder after stabbing a girl in the back at his Norfolk school, a jury finding he meant to kill her.
A 16-year-old boy who plunged a blade into a classmate’s back while wearing a mask was found guilty of attempted murder after a two-week trial at King’s Lynn Crown Court.
The jury needed less than four hours to return a unanimous verdict. The attack happened May 11 at Thorpe St Andrew School near Norwich. The victim, also 15, survived with what prosecutors called minor injuries by sheer luck.
The defendant, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had already admitted grievous bodily harm with intent and possessing a bladed article. He denied he meant to kill. The jury rejected that claim.
Daily Mail reporting detailed how school CCTV showed him approach the girl from behind in a corridor and strike her near the left shoulder blade. She first thought she had been punched. When a teacher screamed, she sprinted away.
After the stabbing, the boy fled and leapt over a gate. A teacher chased him. He left one glove behind. His backpack held the other glove, a mask, and a black woollen hat.
The school went into lockdown for several hours. Teachers barricaded doors. Armed police hunted the attacker, located him, and arrested him. He directed officers to the knife.
The victim was treated in hospital for a shoulder injury and discharged the next day. She later sat in court with her family and wept as she left. In her evidence she said she did not know the attacker and had never seen him before.
Prosecutor Chris Paxton KC told the court the schoolboy had an intention to kill.
"That is why he had a knife, that is why he approached her from behind, that is why he stabbed her in the back, bringing the knife up and back before striking it into her."
Paxton added that the intention was made plain not only by the stabbing but by the boy’s notes and “his obsession with killing, and being fuelled by hatred.” The victim, he said, escaped with minor injuries by “sheer luck.”
Police searched the boy’s bedroom and found writings and videos that framed the case. Notes listed a motive as “misanthropy, misogyny, suicide, bullying.” Other passages spoke of hatred for women and a hunger for admiration through killing.
One note read: “seen killers being admired, I want admiration, gratification. I've wanted this for years. I don't care who I hurt. Not anymore.” Another said the idea of violence or murder “sparks something in me.”
A further entry laid out a body count: “I really want to do it, really bad. I hate having to wait... but I have to wait. I need a plan... I want at least two, maybe three. I’d be proud of five.”
A suicide note pinned to the wall opened: “My barren world. Hello to all readers out there in the UK and perhaps the world. If you’re reading this, I’m either dead or in custody.” Longer writings spilled resentment, claimed a failed relationship had fueled hatred for women, and described a desire to attack girls who had insulted him, using language too foul to print in full.
Videos made on CapCut and other apps showed serial killers Ed Kemper and Ted Bundy “dancing” over a still image of the globe. Other clips compiled Paul Spector from the BBC series The Fall and Dexter Morgan dancing over a map of Florida with a list of victim names. The Suffolk Strangler, Steve Wright, who killed five women from Ipswich in 2006, was also referenced.
The defendant sat through the trial in a glass-fronted dock in a grey sweatshirt, flanked by two security guards and a woman intermediary. He showed no reaction when the verdict came. He had remained silent in his police interview.
This was not the first time the boy had been linked to a knife. In November of the previous year he took a kitchen knife from home. He later told his mother he had been “feeling down and had intended to hurt himself but he chickened out.” Help was sought from the school. He agreed to counselling.
Those steps did not prevent the May 11 attack. The gap between an earlier self-harm scare and a planned corridor stabbing is now part of the record the court will weigh.
Mr Justice Lickley KC ordered the public gallery to show “no reaction” and treat the verdict with “respect.” He then addressed the teenager directly.
"You have been found guilty by the jury of the offence of attempted murder. I am sure you understand how serious that is. I won’t pass sentence today. I will be passing sentence on December 18 when reports will be available at that time. I am sure you will understand that, not only will I have to pass a custodial sentence, but one of considerable length."
The judge said he would order a pre-sentence report and that the court would assess dangerousness. Victim impact statements are to be prepared, along with a report on the wider impact on the school community.
Detective Inspector Kerrie Atkin described the crime in blunt terms after the conviction.
"This was a deeply shocking and deliberate attack which caused significant distress to the victim, her family, fellow pupils and the wider school community."
Worried parents had gathered outside the school after word of the incident spread on social media. The lockdown lasted several hours. A 15-year-old girl went home with a knife wound in her back because a classmate decided admiration for killers mattered more than her life.
When a student says that he wants a body count and then brings a blade to school, the justice system’s job is simple: prove intent, convict, and lock him up long enough that no other child pays the price.
