From violent fantasies to attempted murder – how a school knife attack unfolded

Warning: The following report contains details that some may find distressing

A teenage girl stabbed, armed police deployed, schools locked down and worried parents gathering outside, desperate for information.

Those were the scenes in March when a masked 15-year-old boy armed with a knife attacked another pupil at Thorpe St Andrew School, near Norwich.

The boy, now 16, has been found guilty of attempted murder following a trial at King's Lynn Crown Court.

The jury heard notes found by police suggested the teenager, who cannot be named due to his age, had planned to target others and had a hatred of women and a fascination with serial killers.

So, what happened in the run-up to the attack, on the day itself and in the aftermath?

In November, four months before the attack, a kitchen knife went missing from the boy's family home.

He said he had intended to harm himself and returned it.

During the trial Christopher Paxton KC, prosecuting, said: "It is clear that [he] came from a loving home."

His mother told the court he was "very quiet, very funny, very smart" with a "dry sense of humour" and described the night before the attack as "completely normal".

However, police searches of his phone would later show he was looking at information on mass shootings and school shootings, police response times to active shooter incidents and the location of the nearest police station.

He also researched Elliot Rodger, described to jurors as "an early influence on incel and manosphere culture".

Incel – an abbreviation of "involuntarily celibate" – is a term used to refer to groups of men who feel that they cannot enter into sexual relationships.

Photographs were taken showing dark clothing, gloves, a face covering and a notebook.

One notebook entry included a list of targets and said: "I want at least 2 maybe 3. I'd be very proud of 5."

Another said: "Attack on = Thorpe St Andrew. Motive = misanthropy, misogyny, suicide, bullying. Weapon = knife (x2?). Deaths = 2+ hopefully. Injuries = a lot hopefully. Time of start = 10:00am."

A third said: "I really wanna do it. Really bad. I hate having to wait. I hate it. But I have to wait."

Thorpe St Andrew School is in a leafy suburb about three miles (5km) from Norwich city centre.

With 1,834 pupils, it is thought to be Norfolk's largest school and was rated Good at its last Ofsted inspection.

On 11 March, the boy arrived at 08:15 GMT and, 34 minutes later, was in his first lesson.

The court heard a teacher described him as "appearing typical and completing work as expected".

But just after 10:00, the boy took a photograph of himself making a hand signal.

About 12 minutes later, he had changed into dark clothing, gloves and a face covering and was walking through the school corridors.

At about 10:20, as lessons took place, he attacked the 15-year-old girl in front of a witness.

The court heard he did not know the girl.

CCTV played to the court showed him using a kitchen knife, which he had brought from home and which had a blade measuring 18cm (7in).

The girl later told police: "I felt sharp pain shooting through my back. I went like that and it was blood all over my hands".

She then told a teacher: "Sir, I've been stabbed."

Another teacher told the court he came out of his lesson and gave chase for about 25 seconds, shouting at the boy to stop, but he got away.

The school was put into lockdown at about 10:25. A bell sounded and pupils were told to switch off their phones and hide under their desks.

Meanwhile, the boy had left the site but at 10:48 he sent a text message to his mother that read: "I'm sorry."

When she called to ask what had happened, he replied "Nothing good" and said he had "hurt someone".

His mother told the court that using a phone app, she was able to trace his location and, along with her husband, went to find him.

She said when they were passed by two police cars, she called 999, gave police her son's location and was advised to head home.

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Shortly afterwards, police arrested the boy nearby. He directed officers to the knife and was described by officers as co-operative and subdued.

Other schools nearby went into lockdown and outside Thorpe St Andrew School, parents and guardians gathered, anxiously waiting for news.

Police reopened roads around the school at 14:00 but cordons remained in place.

The girl who was attacked remained in hospital overnight.

The court heard medical notes state she sustained a 2cm wound to the left of her spine that was between 4mm to 1cm deep, but there was no significant blood loss.

Officers took the boy to Wymondham Police Investigation Centre for questioning.

The prosecution told the court that later that day, officers searched the family home, finding an Adidas shoebox with apparent stab marks in it.

Inside were handwritten notes, including a list of names beneath the heading "Victims?". It included the phrase "7 plus kills".

In a note headed "Feelings", an extract said: "What I understand is that I feel little emotions. What little emotions I do feel are negative. Anger, hatred, jealousy, disgust, egotism, obsession."

Another said: "The idea of violence or possibly even murder sparks something in me. I don't know what it is or what it means either. But I think I like the idea of it.

"The idea and look of it inspires me. Maybe one day I'll even take my own action of it."

A notebook entry dated 9 March said: "I don't want a future. I wanna make a name for myself. Soon. The quick and easy way."

Notes were pinned to the boy's bedroom wall. One read: "My barren world... Hello to all readers out there in the UK and perhaps even the world.

"If you're reading this, I am either dead or in custody. I imagine the police will be the first to read this and seize it as evidence, so I will make something very clear. I made this decision to do so on my own.

"Nobody told me to. Just me. Nobody knew I wanted to do this. Not a single soul."

In another note, read to the jury, he talked about his hatred of women, asking: "Am I evil for that? Probably. Am I an incel? A misogynist? No. I just have good judgement."

On his phone, police found videos of real and fictional serial killers, including an AI-generated video depicting serial killers Edmund Kemper and Ted Bundy dancing over an image of the globe.

The boy had also created images and videos showing a figure resembling himself dancing over photographs of Thorpe St Andrew School.

He had saved a video showing the fictional killer Paul Spector, played by Jamie Dornan, in BBC drama The Fall dressed entirely in dark clothing and wearing a balaclava.

One featured the caption: "Literally me".

The phone's search history showed that on the evening before the attack, the boy had searched the internet for mass shootings and school shootings.

The boy was interviewed by police on 11 and 12 March. Other than confirming his identity, he remained silent.

The boy's trial took place at King's Lynn Crown Court, about 50 miles (80km) from the scene of the attack.

Before the jury of eight women and four men was sworn in, the boy had admitted to possessing a kitchen knife and wounding with intent.

These admissions were not accepted by the prosecution, and a two-week trial for attempted murder began.

Opening the prosecution case, Paxton said the defendant "went to school not to learn, but to kill".

He was "dressed in black, masked up and tooled up", jurors heard.

The victim fought back tears while recounting the attack.

Members of her family, and the boy's, sat in the public gallery each day.

Due to the boy's age, the judge Mr Justice Lickley allowed him to sit outside the dock, just a few metres from the press bench, before bringing him into the dock as the jury's verdict was delivered.

The boy did not give evidence but Stephen Rose KC, defending, told the jury he had been "struggling to cope with intrusive thoughts" and had a "distorted view of the world around him".

He said he could not have intended to kill the girl because he had used "limited force" with the knife.

Rose said: "You may well conclude the evidence shows that [the boy] had planned a lethal knife attack. Planning is not the same as intention."

The boy showed little emotion during the trial.

It took the jury just under four hours to find him guilty of attempted murder.

However, they did return briefly from their early deliberation with a request to inspect the knife in question. It was granted and the knife was removed from its evidence bag so that jurors could hold it in a protective tube.

After the judge warned him he would have to consider a custodial sentence of "some considerable length", the boy nodded and replied "Yes, sir" before he was led to the cells.

He will be sentenced on 18 December.

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