A 14-year-old boy has been charged with attempted murder after a teacher was stabbed in the stomach in a classroom full of pupils.
The teenager, who cannot be named, is accused of attacking Vincent Uzomah, a 50-year-old supply teacher, at Dixons Kings academy in Bradford on Thursday.
The boy, who was arrested in Bradford city centre six hours after the stabbing, will appear at Bradford magistrates court on Saturday.
Martin Goldman, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “Having carefully considered all of the evidence presented to us, we have concluded that there is sufficient evidence and that it is in the public interest to charge a 14-year-old youth with attempted murder.”
Uzomah had only been at the school for a month, according to pupils. He was said to be in a stable condition in hospital on Thursday. The single knife wound missed vital organs and did not cause any internal bleeding.
A police helicopter and dozens of officers were deployed after incident and other officers were dispatched to the school to reassure pupils and staff and to interview witnesses. An educational psychologist was on hand to offer support.
Nick Weller, executive principal of Dixons Academies, said there was very little that could be done to prevent a knife attack. “Obviously we will review everything we do,” he said. “There are some things that happen that you can’t account for, that you can’t anticipate.”
The incident has reignited a debate about school safety. Ian Murch, of the Bradford branch of the National Union of Teachers, said it “does raise questions with people about safety and what can be done to improve safety”.
Chris Keates, the general secretary of the NASUWT teaching union, said: “It is important to remember that occurrences of violence such as this are extremely rare, but clearly, at the appropriate time, all of the circumstances of how this incident unfolded will need to be examined.”
Just over a year ago, a teacher in Leeds, Ann Maguire, was stabbed to death by a pupil then aged 15. Will Cornick stabbed the 61-year-old seven times in the back and neck at Corpus Christi Catholic college after telling fellow pupils that he hated her.
Cornick was jailed for a minimum of 20 years. The trial judge allowed him to be named despite his age.
