Boy, 14, who stabbed girl avoids jail after rejection

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 8 Oct, 21:07 · Archive

A 14-year-old boy who stabbed a 13-year-old girl after she rejected his advances has been given a referral order instead of a prison sentence.

A 14-year-old boy stabbed a 13-year-old girl ten times in a shop in Cirencester, Gloucestershire on 15 March after she rejected his romantic advances. He had become obsessed with the girl and used fake social media accounts to message her. When she continued to refuse him, he followed her to the shop armed with a 6-inch kitchen knife.

During the attack, the girl ran for her life as the boy walked after her, cornered her and struck repeatedly. A shopkeeper intervened and was also injured. The girl suffered cuts to her neck, hands and face, and bruises on her back. The boy was sentenced to a 12-month referral order and a three-year restraining order, avoiding a prison sentence.

The girl's mother told the BBC she felt 'angry' and 'incredibly let down' by the decision. She said: 'If you're big enough to commit an adult crime, you should have the punishment, regardless of your age. It was not a petty crime – it wasn't petty theft.' She added that without the shopkeeper's intervention and her daughter's quick reactions, 'she would have been dead'. The girl has been left with nightmares and is too scared to go about her daily life alone.

How it is being reported

• Mum’s anger after ‘Adolescence’ boy who stabbed daughter in shop avoids jailThe 14-year-old boy had become obsessed with the girl, who was 13 at the time of the attack in March (Picture: Gloucestershire Police/SWNS) The mother of a girl stabbed 10 times by a boy for spurning his advances says it is ‘disgraceful’ he was not jailed over the attack. Detectives likened the…Metro · 8 Oct, 20:43
• Mother's fury as boy, 14, who stabbed her daughter in frenzied attack because she wouldn't go out with him is NOT sent to jailThe mother whose daughter was stabbed by a teenage boy after she refused to date him has branded the decision not to jail him as a 'disgrace'.Daily Mail · 8 Oct, 11:24

In this story: Cirencester · Gloucestershire

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