Children as young as four bringing knives and other weapons to school

Kids arsenic young arsenic 4 are bringing scissors, room knives and different blades to class, the Mirror has learned, arsenic campaigners request urgent enactment to curb violence

Cases of children caught with knives and different weapons successful school person astir doubled successful 2 years – with immoderate aged conscionable four.

In the 2022/23 schoolhouse year, 686 equipped and unsafe youngsters were expelled and 14,289 suspended. That compared to 7,763 sent location successful disgrace successful 2020/21.

With astir 190 days successful a schoolhouse year, it means astir 79 children were caught each day. The fig permanently expelled soared by much than a 4th successful the aforesaid period. Shockingly, 1,433 cases progressive superior pupils – including 21 aged 4 and five.

Weapons confiscated included room knives, scissors, penknives and adjacent Tasers. Last nighttime campaigners called for urgent enactment to stem the tide of unit successful our classrooms, amid fears of yet different tragedy.

Dr Patrick Roach, wide caput of teachers national NASUWT, branded our findings “extremely worrying”. He added: “Teachers and caput teachers are moving hard to guarantee that our schools are harmless but the epidemic of limb carrying cannot beryllium solved by schools alone.

“We present request to spot the instrumentality to a nationalist schoolhouse information and information program which was abandoned by the erstwhile government. The NASUWT is continuing to property the authorities to travel guardant with a nationwide program to guarantee information successful our schools.”

Our figures, obtained from the Department for Education nether state of accusation laws, travel days aft a 13-year-old miss stood proceedings for stabbing 2 teachers and a pupil astatine a schoolhouse successful Ammanford, Carmarthenshire, successful April. The girl, who has admitted grievous bodily harm with intent, volition beryllium retried for attempted execution successful January aft a assemblage was discharged.

Next period a teen is owed to spell connected proceedings accused of murdering Elianne Andam, 15, with a zombie weapon connected her mode to schoolhouse successful Croydon, South London, successful September past year. Two months aft her death, Alfie Lewis, 15, was stabbed done the bosom extracurricular a schoolhouse successful Leeds. His murderer, besides 15, got beingness successful June.

Police successful England and Wales recorded 50,973 offences involving a weapon oregon crisp instrumentality successful the twelvemonth to June. Some 255 radical – implicit a 3rd nether 25 and 10 nether 16 – died.

In 1995, a thug stabbed headmaster Philip Lawrence to decease arsenic helium protected a pupil extracurricular the schoolhouse gates successful Maida Vale, West London. And teacher Ann Maguire was knifed to decease by 15-year-old pupil Will Cornick astatine her schoolhouse successful Leeds successful 2016.

A authorities spokesperson said: “These figures amusement the standard of the situation this authorities has inherited connected tackling transgression and schoolhouse suspensions. Alongside our committedness to halve weapon transgression implicit the adjacent decade, we volition tackle the basal causes of mediocre behaviour, including by investing implicit £50million to money specializer enactment successful schools successful the areas wherever unit astir impacts children.”