A judge faced criticism for allowing a 14-year-old boy, who stabbed a girl 10 times, to walk free from court, stating that prison was the "last place" for a "bright lad" like him.
The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, attacked the girl with a six-inch kitchen knife on March 15 in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, after she rejected his advances. The assault, captured on CCTV, showed the boy grabbing the girl and stabbing her multiple times as she attempted to flee. He also injured a shopkeeper who intervened.
Despite admitting to wounding with intent, inflicting grievous bodily harm, and possession of a bladed article, the boy received a three-year restraining order and a 12-month referral order. Transcripts of court hearings revealed that Judge Ian Lawrie KC expressed concern over the boy's "behavior dysfunctionality" and the "dangerous" nature of his actions, including the planning and carrying of the knife. However, the judge also described the boy as having a "solid family background" and suggested that custody was not the appropriate sentence.
"What I'm trying to do is find a sentence that's best constructed to help you and give you support," the judge stated.
The victim's mother voiced her family's feeling of being "incredibly let down" by the decision, calling the boy "evil and sick" and questioning why he was not jailed. "If you're big enough to commit an adult crime, you should have the punishment, regardless of your age," she told the BBC. "We feel angry. We're incredibly let down; we feel like everyone's failed us."
The court heard that the girl sustained cuts to her neck, hands, and face, as well as bruising to her back. In a statement read to the court, the victim described ongoing fear and anxiety, stating, "I'm scared and nervous anywhere that I go. Even if someone puts their hand up next to me I flinch as I don't know what they are about to do to me."
She added that the incident had affected her ability to trust people and caused recurring nightmares. "I shouldn't have to feel like this as a teenager in my own area," she said.
Following the attack, the boy spent three months in Vinny Green, a secure unit for young people. However, at a subsequent hearing, Judge Lawrie expressed dissatisfaction with his placement there and released him on bail with an electronic tag. The day he was released, the boy did not return home until 1:30 a.m., delaying the fitting of the tag.
Detective Superintendent Ian Fletcher of Gloucestershire Police described the incident as a "frenzied attack" and noted that the victim was "very, very lucky" to have avoided more serious injury. "We could easily have been looking at a fatal incident if that knife had pierced her anywhere else," he said.