Alleged school knife attacker to face Old Bailey trial
The 13-year-old boy who allegedly stabbed two boys in the neck in Brent will go on trial in the autumn.
A 13-year-old boy who allegedly stabbed two boys in the neck and squirted another with insect spray in a school attack faces an Old Bailey trial in the autumn.
The child, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, bit his nails and spoke only to confirm his name during his first Crown Court hearing on Friday before Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb.
He is accused of launching an attack in front of numerous children and a teacher at Kingsbury High School in Brent, north-west London, on February 10.
Summarising the case, prosecutor Ben Lloyd said the defendant had set out by arming himself with an aerosol of insect spray and positioning his mobile phone in the blazer pocket of his jacket to record events.
Mr Lloyd said: "He entered the premises first of all, knocked on a classroom door and then hid along the side of the wall.
"He had armed himself with a kitchen knife.
"Child C opened the classroom door and the defendant sprayed him directly in the face and once inside the classroom he stabbed in the neck child A.
"Both those incidents happened in the presence of a teacher and numerous other children.
"The defendant then left the classroom and moments later attacked child B in the playground in the presence of others, stabbing him in the neck."
The prosecutor said the defendant then ran away and was undetected for about three hours before being apprehended by police.
Charged with several counts
He was charged with two counts of attempted murder and unlawfully and maliciously administering a noxious thing to a third child.
He has also been charged with possession of a knife on school premises without good reason or lawful authority.
During the hearing Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb set a timetable for the case and confirmed it would be heard by a High Court judge at the Old Bailey.
A plea hearing will take place on July 3 and a trial lasting up to three weeks will start on November 23.
The defendant, whose father attended the hearing, was remanded into custody.