Teenager, 13, set to stand trial after two boys stabbed in the neck at school

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 this 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.

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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.

He was later 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.

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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.

GB News can confirm that the suspect is a British national and was born in the UK.

Sources have told GB News that counter terror detectives investigating the double-stabbing are leaning towards "a personal grievance" as a possible motivation.

However, the Metropolitan Police will not release any further details on his ethnicity or religion for fear it could identify a child.

Two boys, aged 12 and 13, were taken to hospital in serious condition following the incident, they confirmed. Both are now in a stable condition.

The suspect, who had a weapon, was detained shortly after 6pm following tip-off by a member of the public, who became concerned by the child's behaviour at the mosque where he had fled.

Chief Superintendent Helen Flanagan told reporters: "Having entered the school, he proceeded out to a first floor classroom.

"He entered the classroom, and we believe he sprayed a substance towards a pupil as he entered the door.

"The suspect has then attacked another pupil, a 13-year-old in that classroom, stabbing him, and then the suspect has left, running down the hallway of the school.

"As he is leaving, he then attacked another victim, a 12-year-old, stabbing him before running off and away from the school".

Counter-terror police were initially leading the investigation, though the attack has not been declared a terrorist incident, police confirmed.

In a letter to parents, the school's head teacher said it was a "deeply traumatic event for the whole school community".

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