BBCA 14-year-old girl who stabbed three people at school told police officers it was “one way to become a celebrity”, a court heard.
Teachers Fiona Elias and Liz Hopkin, and pupils at Ysgol Dyffryn Aman in Ammanford, Carmarthenshire, were taken to hospital with stab wounds on April 24.
On the fourth day of the trial, jurors at Swansea Crown Court saw bodycam footage of the police officer who arrested the girl and sat with her in the vehicle, where he referred to the student who was stabbed, saying: “I stabbed him. Oopsies.”
The girl, who cannot be named because of her age, admitted stabbing her three times but denied trying to kill her.
During the arrest, he could be seen by officer Sophia Coschignano-Brown, before being taken to a vehicle.
The recording also shows him asking officers if both the teacher and the student were going to die.
“I have a lot of eyes on me today,” the girl added, in the bodycam recording.
“Sooner or later I’m 90% sure this will be news. It’s one way to become a celebrity.”
When she arrived at the police station, the jury later heard the girl asked 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 prosecuting barrister William Hughes KC explaining the timeline in more detail.
The girl can be seen sitting at a table with a group of students, and showing a knife.
He approached Ms. Elias and Ms. Hopkin outside and spoke to them for about two minutes, before striking Ms. Elias with a knife.
Ms Elias can be seen running from the scene, with Ms Hopkin then stabbed multiple times, once in the neck.
Attorney General’s OfficeCCTV footage then shows the girl running towards the other girl and shouting, before striking her with a knife.
A Snapchat video was also shown to the jury, showing when teacher Darrel Campbell restrained the girl after stabbing the student.
The jury also heard witness statements from the principal, James Durbridge and deputy Ceri Myers.
Durbridge said he got a call from Ms Elias during the break, who told her she had been stabbed, so she ordered a “code red” key.
On the way to her, the jury heard that a teaching assistant told her that Ms Hopkin had been stabbed.
When he arrived at the scene, he said he saw the teenage girl being held by Mr Campbell.
“He was breathing heavily,” Mr Durbridge said. “I told him twice, ‘you’re safe but I need a knife’.”
He explained that he put his hand on her wrist and she dropped the knife.
Mr Myers said the girl was taken to his office after the incident, as Mr Durbridge found Ms Hopkin, who was “bloody”.
When the police arrived, Mr Myers explained that he asked the girl to open her mouth, to which she replied: “If I had a mouth, I would have used it to kill myself right now.”
He was asked if he had thoughts of harming himself, to which he replied “no”.
The girl was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and jurors heard she was seen lying on the ground.
Mr Hughes also described pictures, which were shown to the jury, that were found in the girl’s school bag and bedroom.
One of the images is titled “Mrs Frogface Elias” and another mentions the stabbed student, with the words “burning”, “drowning”, and “dead”.
Phrases like “I want to do what no human should do” and “why do I want to kill others as much as I want to kill myself” are also found in the book.
As the details were read out in court, the teenager slumped over the table as he sat with the defense team.
Jurors were shown photos of stab wounds and injuries to teachers and students.
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 injuries, and was taken to the air ambulance on a stretcher when it arrived.
Paramedics attended to Ms Elias and the student, who “did not require immediate treatment”, but all were taken to hospital for treatment.
The trial continues.
