15-year-old boy sentenced to 11 years imprisonment after stabbing girl with sword in Hessle

A 15-year-old boy has been sentenced to 11-years imprisonment and handed an indefinite restraining order after he stabbed and left a teenage girl with life threatening injuries during an attack in Hessle last year.

The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons due to his age, was found guilty of attempted murder by a jury at Hull Crown Court on 12th March, after a six day that started on 3rd March.

At the start of the trial, he pleaded guilty to grievous bodily harm and possession of a bladed article in connection to the attack that took place in November 2023.

Today (Thursday 3rd April) he was sentenced at Hull Crown Court.

On 1st November 2024, a teenage girl appeared at the side of the A63 in Hessle with multiple injuries asking for help from motorists.

Assisted by members of the public, the girl explained she had been stabbed and named the teenage boy who was 14-years-old at the time.

The motorist reported the incident to police at 6:50am and when officers arrived at the scene, they discovered the girl had sustained lacerations to her neck, abdomen, chest and back.

The girl was subsequently taken to hospital to receive treatment to life threatening injuries where she remained for over three weeks.

Detective Superintendent Simon Vickers leading the investigation said: “Following the initial report from members of the public, officers were able to carry out an area search and located a group of teenagers who had been camping in a wooded area over night near to Ferriby High Road.

“As a part of the area search, officers recovered a Katana sword from within one of the tents and six teenagers, four boys aged 14, 15, 16 and 17-years-old, and two girls, 14 and 15-years-old were swiftly arrested at the scene on suspicion of attempted murder.”

Detectives began to conduct multiple lines of enquiry to understand the circumstances which led to the girl sustaining life threatening stab wounds.

Detective Superintendent Vickers continued: “Whilst the teenagers were in custody being questioned, it was quickly established that the group had arranged to go camping however, the girl, had been involved in an argument with people in the group.

“Feeling unwelcome, the teenager girl became uncomfortable and decided that she was going to leave when one of the boys offered to walk her through the wooded area.

“Her attacker then pursued the pair insisting that he would walk with her, and the other teenager returned to the camp site.

“What the girl didn’t know was, that he intended to stab her. As the pair started walking, the girl saw the 15-year-old pull a knife from the waist band of his trousers after pretending to go to the toilet and she attempted to flee to safety.

“The boy then pushed her to floor before proceeding to repeatedly stab her.”

The following day (2nd November) the 15-year-old boy was charged with attempted murder and remanded into custody to appear at Hull Magistrates Court.

After the boy was charged, detectives continued with lines of enquiry to further build a case surrounding the attack to understand what, if any part, any other members of the group had in the incident which led to the girl spending 25 days in hospital receiving lifesaving care.

As a part of the continued investigation five teenagers were further arrested on 22nd January on suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder.

Detective Superintendent Vickers said: “Following thorough and extensive lines of enquiry, including phone data analysis, detectives were able to establish that when the group had packed their bags for the evening on Thursday 31st October, the 15-year-old girl, now 16-years-old, had taken a Katana sword from a family members knife collection.

“Throughout the course of the evening, the knife was passed around the group and also used to aid in starting a fire and to cook food the group had taken with them for the evening before the teenager used it to attack the girl.

The teenage boy was sentenced to 11-years imprisonment, with an additional one year to run concurrently, and handed an indefinite restraining order.

Three teenage boys aged 15, 16 and 17-years-old, and a 14-year-old girl were subsequently released without charge in connection with the attack on the teenage girl.

A 16-year-old girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, due to her age, was charged with possession of an offensive weapon and appeared at Hull Youth Court on 25th February.

She was handed a nine-month youth referral order and ordered to pay a £111 fine.

Detective Superintendent Vickers said: “This was a camping trip which should have been an enjoyable experience for everyone involved, and the events that unfolded that night, leaving a young girl in a life-threatening condition, should have never happened.

“The boy went on that camping trip with one intention and that was to attempt to kill an innocent and helpless young girl and because of him, she is lucky to be alive following what I can only describe as horrific and unimaginable attack.

“Five-months on, she continues to recover not only from her physical injuries but with the mental scars from that night, and I would like to commend her determination and courage in supporting detectives throughout the course of the investigation and court proceedings.

“Whilst the boy is now being punished for his unforgiveable actions, there are no winners in this situation with both teenager’s lives now having changed forever.

“Carrying any form of knife, whether you intend to use it or not, is never okay and not something we as a police force will ever accept as we continue to do everything we can to tackle knife crime across our force area.

“Whether you find yourself in a confrontational situation at home, or are thinking about carrying a knife for your protection, ask yourself, what is the point?

“One knife impacts more than one life.”