A girl of 14 was stabbed nine times in the neck yesterday as she was about to walk through her school's gates.
Chloe West was attacked from behind by an 18-year-old man – said to be a former boyfriend – who had driven up the quiet tree-lined street at 100 km/h to confront her.
He was said by pupils to have been angry with her after she apparently failed to respond to his text messages.
A 16-year-old student at the school tackled the man to the ground, and then a teacher and a parent subdued him by sitting on him until police arrived at Ridgewood High School in Stourbridge, West Midlands. Superintendent Stuart Johnson said their ‘incredibly brave’ intervention may have saved the teenager’s life.
Chloe, a keen rider who keeps her own horse nearby, was airlifted to Birmingham Children’s Hospital, where she had surgery on wounds to her face, head and neck.
Last night she was in a stable condition.
Photo of victim:
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/04/01/article-1372249-0B7083B300000578-730_634x484.jpg
Her alleged attacker was identified locally as Sam Tomlinson, 18.
Photo of Sam Tomlinson:
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/04/01/article-1372249-0B716BE900000578-652_306x423.jpg
Chloe’s best friend told of the terrifying moment the knifeman struck. Ella Hill, 14, said she jumped on his back and pulled his hair in an unsuccessful attempt to halt the attack, carried out with what appeared to be a kitchen knife.
Speaking with her parents’ permission, Ella said the assailant stopped his car, jumped out and started yelling: ‘Why haven’t you been talking to me.’
She added: ‘Chloe replied to him, “What are you doing here?, why are you here?” Then he grabbed Chloe in a headlock and started hitting her in the face.
‘I jumped on him and started trying to pull him back, but he threw me off and on to the floor and then he got Chloe on the floor and then got on top of her and started to stab her.
‘He was stabbing her in the face and the neck. There was blood all over her. I couldn’t even recognise her face.’
Some students said he slashed her across the face as well as stabbing her after the schoolgirl apparently ignored a series of text messages from him.
Others said Chloe had recently rejected him. Police confirmed the pair knew each other but said they were still trying to establish the exact nature of their relationship. Chloe lives with her 12-year-old brother, Jack, and parents Nigel, 53, a painter and decorator, and Rosemary, a 47-year-old cleaner, in a semi-detached home less than a mile from the school.
Police said ‘Had it not been for the intervention of the parent, teacher and a pupil, Chloe’s injuries may have been far more serious than they already are, and potentially life-threatening.
‘They showed tremendous b.r.a.v.e.r.y in intervening and detaining the suspect and in my opinion – based on medical evidence – they clearly prevented far more serious injuries to Chloe.’ He said the Year 11 student, Ben Hudson, suffered ‘scuffle-type’ injuries as he fought the attacker. Ben’s family refused to comment on the incident.
One pupil said: ‘Her ex was angry because he was texting her and she wasn’t replying. My friends said he came racing up the road at 60mph, jumped out of his car and punched her repeatedly.’
Last night Sam Tomlinson was being questioned by police on suspicion of attempted murder.
He is the oldest of four children who live with their mother, Angela, a teacher at the town’s Bishop Milner Catholic School, which he is thought to have attended until last year.
Looking drawn and worried, Mrs Tomlinson, 48, said: ‘I’ve been told not to comment.’
A neighbour said: ‘I’d be staggered if he was caught up in something like this. He’s a real studious type of boy who barely leaves the house.’
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...d-arrived-secondary-school.html#ixzz1IP0ciO8Y
Chloe West was attacked from behind by an 18-year-old man – said to be a former boyfriend – who had driven up the quiet tree-lined street at 100 km/h to confront her.
He was said by pupils to have been angry with her after she apparently failed to respond to his text messages.
A 16-year-old student at the school tackled the man to the ground, and then a teacher and a parent subdued him by sitting on him until police arrived at Ridgewood High School in Stourbridge, West Midlands. Superintendent Stuart Johnson said their ‘incredibly brave’ intervention may have saved the teenager’s life.
Chloe, a keen rider who keeps her own horse nearby, was airlifted to Birmingham Children’s Hospital, where she had surgery on wounds to her face, head and neck.
Last night she was in a stable condition.
Photo of victim:
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/04/01/article-1372249-0B7083B300000578-730_634x484.jpg
Her alleged attacker was identified locally as Sam Tomlinson, 18.
Photo of Sam Tomlinson:
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/04/01/article-1372249-0B716BE900000578-652_306x423.jpg
Chloe’s best friend told of the terrifying moment the knifeman struck. Ella Hill, 14, said she jumped on his back and pulled his hair in an unsuccessful attempt to halt the attack, carried out with what appeared to be a kitchen knife.
Speaking with her parents’ permission, Ella said the assailant stopped his car, jumped out and started yelling: ‘Why haven’t you been talking to me.’
She added: ‘Chloe replied to him, “What are you doing here?, why are you here?” Then he grabbed Chloe in a headlock and started hitting her in the face.
‘I jumped on him and started trying to pull him back, but he threw me off and on to the floor and then he got Chloe on the floor and then got on top of her and started to stab her.
‘He was stabbing her in the face and the neck. There was blood all over her. I couldn’t even recognise her face.’
Some students said he slashed her across the face as well as stabbing her after the schoolgirl apparently ignored a series of text messages from him.
Others said Chloe had recently rejected him. Police confirmed the pair knew each other but said they were still trying to establish the exact nature of their relationship. Chloe lives with her 12-year-old brother, Jack, and parents Nigel, 53, a painter and decorator, and Rosemary, a 47-year-old cleaner, in a semi-detached home less than a mile from the school.
Police said ‘Had it not been for the intervention of the parent, teacher and a pupil, Chloe’s injuries may have been far more serious than they already are, and potentially life-threatening.
‘They showed tremendous b.r.a.v.e.r.y in intervening and detaining the suspect and in my opinion – based on medical evidence – they clearly prevented far more serious injuries to Chloe.’ He said the Year 11 student, Ben Hudson, suffered ‘scuffle-type’ injuries as he fought the attacker. Ben’s family refused to comment on the incident.
One pupil said: ‘Her ex was angry because he was texting her and she wasn’t replying. My friends said he came racing up the road at 60mph, jumped out of his car and punched her repeatedly.’
Last night Sam Tomlinson was being questioned by police on suspicion of attempted murder.
He is the oldest of four children who live with their mother, Angela, a teacher at the town’s Bishop Milner Catholic School, which he is thought to have attended until last year.
Looking drawn and worried, Mrs Tomlinson, 48, said: ‘I’ve been told not to comment.’
A neighbour said: ‘I’d be staggered if he was caught up in something like this. He’s a real studious type of boy who barely leaves the house.’
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...d-arrived-secondary-school.html#ixzz1IP0ciO8Y
