School stabbing girl 'vowed to do something stupid'

A teenage girl who stabbed three people at a school showed schoolmates a knife and said she would stab a teacher, a court has heard.

Teachers Fiona Elias and Liz Hopkin and a pupil were stabbed by the 14-year-old at Ysgol Dyffryn Aman, in Ammanford, Carmarthenshire.

The girl, who cannot be named due to her age, admits the triple stabbing but denies attempted murder on 24 April 2024.

The girl told another student she would "do something stupid which could get [her] expelled" on the morning of the attack, a jury at Swansea Crown Court heard.

"[The girl] said I'm going to do something stupid that could get me expelled," one pupil said in a recorded police interview.

"She mentioned something about Ms Elias."

Another student said: "She said was going to stab someone, or going to stab Ms Elias.

"She showed us a knife. There was no emotion in her face. It was like she had changed completely.

"She said she wanted to get expelled. I didn't think she was going to stab her, but I knew she didn't like Ms Elias."

The witness said the girl left the building, and minutes later she heard the teenager had stabbed Ms Elias.

The school went into lockdown and pupils were kept in classrooms.

The jury also heard that the girl had previously been told by Ms Elias that she did not have permission to be in the lower school hall, and that the teenager could be "disrespectful" and did not "follow rules" in school.

Another student witness said the teenager had told friends she "would be put away for a very long time" minutes before the attack.

"She was pulling a knife out of her pocket and saying she would do stuff. She said you guys won't see me for a while," he added.

"I laughed it off as a joke, I wanted to distance myself from the conversation."

The witness said the girl's eyes were "blank" after the teenager spoke with Ms Elias, and that made him "anxious", so he left the lower school hall for a lesson.

Another student witness said the teenager said her "dad had weapons" a week before the stabbings.

"She was telling me how she brings one into school every day," the witness added. "She said she hated Ms Elias and wanted to kill her."

The jury watched a police interview with another student, who claimed he had seen the pupil who was stabbed "slapping" the defendant about a month before the attack.

The defendant's father gave evidence in court and confirmed he visited the school in September 2023 because a knife had been found in his daughter's bag.

He said he had agreed to check the bag each morning, but on the morning of the attack in April, he said he did not see his daughter.

"She had left prior to anyone being up," he said.

He confirmed he owned the "multi-tool knife" used by his daughter to stab both teachers and the pupil, and said it was kept in his fishing kit at their home, as the blade was shown to the jury.

He claimed his daughter had been bullied, and would often arrive home "upset", adding she had a history of self-harming.

The trial continues.