Ysgol Dyffryn Aman school attack: Girl told teacher ‘I’m going to kill you,’ trial hears
A teenager told a teacher “I’m going to f****** kill you” as she attacked her at a school in Wales, a trial has heard.
The defendant, who cannot be named for legal reasons, denies the attempted murder of two teachers and a pupil at Ysgol Dyffryn Aman School – also known as Amman Valley School – in Carmarthenshire, West Wales.
She has admitted wounding with intent and possession of a bladed article on school grounds, but faces trial on three counts of attempted murder.
A jury of seven men and five women was sworn in on Monday morning at Swansea Crown Court and was told by Judge Paul Thomas KC that a previous trial in the case had to be abandoned for “various reasons”.
The court heard there had been a “serious episode of violence” at the school during the mid-morning school break on 24 April last year.
Prosecuting, William Hughes KC, said teachers Fiona Elias and Liz Hopkin were “seriously injured after being repeatedly stabbed”.
On a previous occasion, after a knife was found in the defendant’s possession, she was excluded from school “for a number of days”, and the school was given permission to carry out “daily bag checks”.
But on the morning of 24 April, the court heard how the defendant had “left the family home before her father could check her bag”.
(L-R) Fiona Elias and Liz Hopkin. Pics: Dyfed-Powys Police
The jury was told that, prior to the incident, the defendant was in the lower school hall, but “did not have permission” to be there, and that when Mrs Elias told her this, the girl looked at her with “sinister eyes” and “appeared to be playing with something in the right-side pocket of her cargo trousers”.
Later that morning, in an outdoor area near the lower hall, the teenager pulled out what Mrs Elias described as “a penknife with a silver tip to it”, while she was speaking to both her and Mrs Hopkin.
The prosecution said the knife used in the attack turned out to be a “multi-tool” taken without permission from her father’s fishing equipment.
Mr Hughes told the jury: “Mrs Elias asked about her [the defendant’s] trousers which were not school uniform.
“There was an exchange between them about contacting her father, which she did not want.
“Mrs Elias then said she wasn’t happy with the way [the girl] was looking at her and asked what she had in her pocket.
“She said: ‘Do you want to see?’ and pulled out an item with a silver blade.
“On pulling out the knife, she said to Mrs Elias ‘I am going to kill you, I am going to f****** kill you’, and then she started to stab her.”
She also attacked Ms Hopkin, before rushing past two male teachers and running at the other pupil.
Both Mrs Elias and Mrs Hopkin, who attempted to restrain the defendant, “received significant and serious injuries”.
Mrs Hopkin was the most seriously injured of the two with “four stab wounds”, and she was airlifted to the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff.
Mrs Elias and the pupil also attended hospital for treatment.
Ammanford in Carmarthenshire
Members of the jury were shown CCTV footage of the incident as the prosecution opened its case on Monday.
After her arrest, Mr Hughes said the defendant made “significant, unsolicited comments” in the back of the police vehicle on the way to the police station.
The comments were captured on body-worn camera footage.
Referring to the pupil, she said: “I stabbed her… oopsies”.
She then said: “I suppose things like this don’t happen often”, and later asked: ‘Are they dead?’
“I’m pretty sure this is going to be on the news, so more eyes will be looking at me, that’s one way to be a celebrity,” she added.
She later asked officers, “How am I going to face my family after what I’ve done?”
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After her arrest, police officers attended her home address where they found drawings with comments including “burning a person”, “they could die”, “cut their mouths and eyes” and “to death”.
Officers also found a drawing of what was described as “Mrs Frog Face Elias”.
The trial continues.
A workman saved a seven-year-old boy from a burning car in the aftermath of a deadly crash caused by a suicidal ex-pilot, an inquest has heard.
The schoolboy’s rescue came following the collision on the M6, which killed former RAF man Richard Woods and four others, in October last year.
Last week a coroner ruled that Woods, 40, took his own life by deliberately driving his Skoda the wrong way down the motorway while drunk and hitting a Toyota Yaris head-on.
The driver of the Toyota, Jaroslaw Rossa, 42, was also killed, along with his two sons, Filip, 15, and Dominic, seven, and his partner Jade McEnroe, 33.
Cockermouth Coroner’s Court heard on Thursday that Ms McEnroe’s son was also in the car but survived after workman Gavin Walsh came to his rescue at the scene, which was near Tebay services in Cumbria.
In a statement to the inquest, Mr Walsh said he was a passenger in a transit van travelling to Scotland when he witnessed the crash.
He jumped out of the vehicle and used a jack to smash the rear windscreen of the Toyota and pulled the boy out of the burning vehicle.
Mr Walsh said: “We really did try, I can assure everyone we did our best. We only had minimal time.
“I saved a life that day and I hope never to witness anything like that again.”
He added that he has never stopped thinking about the boy, and said: “I hope we will meet again one day and I will give you a massive hug.”
At the time, the family were returning to Glasgow from a trip to Legoland in Windsor, Berkshire.
The inquest heard that Wood, who was travelling at a speed of at least 65mph, would have been charged with manslaughter had he survived.
Recording conclusions of unlawful killing, Cumbria assistant coroner Margaret Taylor said: “I found that Jaroslaw, Jade, Filip and Dominic died as a consequence of the unlawful acts of another driver.”
The inquest heard how Mr Woods, from Cambridgeshire, had served a distinguished 14-year career in the RAF and was a flight instructor for BAE Systems at the time of his death.
Jade McEnroe. Pic: Cumbria Constabulary
Dominic and Filip. Pic: Cumbria Constabulary
In Ms Taylor’s record of inquest, Mr Woods was said to have been experiencing “a number of stressors in his life” and had a “history of harmful use of alcohol”.
Following the crash, he was found to be nearly four times over the legal drink-drive limit and a two-thirds empty bottle of gin was found in his car.
On the day of his death, concerns had been raised over his behaviour at a work conference near Preston in Lancashire.
Mr Woods failed to return to his seat after lunch and was later spotted driving erratically and swerving across three northbound carriageway lanes on the M6.
After pulling onto the hard shoulder, he then proceeded to U-turn and drove southward on lane three.
Filip, Dominic and Jaroslaw Rossa. Pic: Cumbria Constabulary
Detective Sergeant Deborah Story, from Cumbria Police, told the inquest that Mr Woods would have been prosecuted on four counts of manslaughter had he lived.
She said hypothetical charges of murder were considered by detectives but not thought appropriate because of a lack of information that Mr Woods knew the family or anything that provided a link between them.
Ms McEnroe’s parents, Marie McEnroe and George McNellis, told the coroner they thought it was “murder”.
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A statement from the mother of Filip and Dominic, and the ex-wife of Mr Rossa, Kamila, was read out at the inquest.
She said Mr Rossa, known as Jarek, was born in Poland where they became a couple and went on to have three boys.
He loved playing computer games and had “lots of friends”, she said, and worked at the Wagamama restaurant in Silverburn, Glasgow.
She said she was “devastated” over the deaths, adding: “Our lives will never be the same.
“I am heartbroken at the passing of my beloved angels Filip and Dominic.”
Marie McEnroe said her daughter, a spa therapist, had been in a relationship with Mr Rossa for about two-and-a-half years.
She said Jade had been a “brilliant mother” to her only child, was “really happy” with Mr Rossa and it was “lovely chaos” when all the boys were playing together.
Ms McEnroe added: “Life changed forever that day”.
Ms Taylor praised the “selfless acts of bravery” from those in the aftermath of the collision, including Mr Walsh, who she said went towards the burning car “without hesitation for his own safety”.
The coroner added: “Without his swift response, Jade’s child would also have perished.”
Addressing the bereaved family members, she said: “Your loss is unimaginable but you have conducted yourself with dignity and I thank you for that. I wish you strength for the future.”
Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK.
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