Ammanford school stabbing: A way to celebrity, said girl – court

A 14-year-old girl who stabbed three people at a school told police officers it was “one way to be a celebrity,” a court heard.

Teachers Fiona Elias and Liz Hopkin, and a pupil at Ysgol Dyffryn Aman in Ammanford, Carmarthenshire, were taken to hospital with stab wounds on 24 April.

On the fourth day of the trial, the jury at Swansea Crown Court saw bodycam footage of a police officer who arrested the girl and sat with her in a vehicle, where she referred to the pupil she stabbed, saying: “I stabbed her. Oopsies.”

The girl, who cannot be named because of her age, admits the triple stabbing but denies attempted murder.

During her arrest, she could be seen staring at officer Sophia Coschignano-Brown, before being taken to the vehicle.

The footage also showed her asking the officer if the two teachers and the pupils were going to die.

“I’ve had loads of eyes on me today,” the girl added, in the bodycam footage.

“Sooner or later I’m 90% sure this is going to be on the news. That is one way to be a celebrity.”

By the time she arrived at the police station, the jury then heard the girl asking the officer how she was going to face her family “after what I’ve done”.

The jury also watched CCTV of the incident again, with prosecution barrister William Hughes KC explaining the timeline in more detail.

The girl could be seen sitting around a table with a group of pupils, and showing them a knife.

She approached Ms Elias and Ms Hopkin outside and spoke to them for about two minutes, before striking Ms Elias with a knife.

Ms Elias could be seen running away from the scene, with Ms Hopkin then being stabbed multiple times, once in her neck.

CCTV footage then showed the girl running towards another girl and shouting at her, before striking her with a knife.

A Snapchat video was also shown to the jury, which showed the moment teacher Darrel Campbell restrained the girl after she stabbed the pupil.

The jury also heard witness statements from the school’s head, James Durbridge and deputy Ceri Myers.

Mr Durbridge said he took a call from Ms Elias during break, who told him she had been stabbed, and so he ordered a “code red” lockdown.

On his way to her, the jury heard that a teaching assistant told him Ms Hopkin had been stabbed.

On his arrival at the scene he said he saw the teenage girl being restrained by Mr Campbell.

“Her breathing was heavy,” Mr Durbridge said. “I said to her twice, ‘you’re safe but I need the knife’.”

He explained that he placed his hand on her wrist and she released the knife.

Mr Myers said the girl was brought to his office after the incident, as Mr Durbridge went to see Ms Hopkin, who was “bleeding profusely”.

When police arrived, Mr Myers explained that they asked the girl to open her mouth, to which she replied: “If I had something in my mouth I would have used it to kill myself by now.”

She was asked if she was having any thought of self-harm, to which she replied “no”.

The girl was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and the jury heard she looked down to the ground.

Mr Hughes also described drawings, which were shown to the jury, that were found the in the girl’s schoolbag and bedroom.

One was a drawing with the heading “Mrs Frogface Elias” and another referred to the pupil who was stabbed, with the words “burning”, “drowning”, and “death”.

Phrases like “I want to do something humans aren’t supposed to” and “why do I want to kill others as much I want to kill myself” were also found in books.

As these details were read in court the teenager lowered her head to the table as she sat with her defence team.

The jury were shown photographs of the stab wounds and injuries of both teachers and the pupil.

A statement from the first paramedic on the scene, William Pridmore-Bowen, was also shared with the jury.

He saw Ms Hopkin first, and he confirmed she had multiple stab wounds, and was taken to the air ambulance on a stretcher when it arrived.

The paramedic then went to see Ms Elias and the pupil, who “did not need urgent treatment”, but they were all taken to hospital to be treated.

The trial continues.