Teenager charged with attempted murder in UK

A 13-year-old boy, arrested over the stabbing of two boys at a school in north-west London, has been charged with attempted murder and to appear before Westminster Magistrates Court, the UK’s Metropolitan Police said on Thursday. The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons as a minor, has been charged with two counts of attempted murder, possession of a bladed article on school premises and administering a noxious substance spray and possession of a bladed article, namely a knife.

The Met Police have described him as a UK-born British national who was a former pupil at the Kingsbury High School in Brent, where he is said to have targeted two pupils aged 12 and 13 with a knife and a third with an insect spray on Tuesday. “These are extremely serious charges against a young boy, and we continue to support the victims and their families, as well as the wider school community following this shocking incident,” said Detective Chief Superintendent (DCS) Helen Flanagan, from Counter Terrorism Policing London. 

“While we have now charged the boy with these offences, our investigation is ongoing, and detectives will continue to carry out enquiries in the local area. We are working closely with local policing colleagues in the Brent area, and I would also like to thank the school and the wider local community for their support in recent days,” she said.  Her team continues to lead the investigation “due to circumstances surrounding the incident”, but the stabbings have not been declared a terrorist incident. The two boys taken to the hospital with stab wounds remain there in a “stable condition”. 

According to details released by the Met Police earlier, the suspect entered the school on Tuesday afternoon and proceeded to a first-floor classroom where he sprayed a substance towards a pupil’s face. Although the spray was not believed to have been noxious, the police are treating the boy named Child C as a victim in this case as well. The suspect went on to stab a 13-year-old boy, Child inside the classroom before running down the hallway and stairs. As he is leaving, he is said to have stabbed a 12-year-old boy, Child B, before running off and away from the school.          

“Armed police attended the school, and a manhunt was immediately stood up to try and locate and detain the suspect as quickly as possible. While urgent enquiries were being made to try and locate the suspect, police were called by a member of the public at approximately 16:15 hrs over concerns of a child who had been seen at a mosque in NW10. 

“Officers attended shortly after and arrested the 13-year-old boy on suspicion of attempted murder, and he remains in custody. I must add at this point that we do not believe the suspect has any particular connection to the mosque. At this stage, we think it may have been coincidental he ended up in that area, and those at the mosque have been incredibly supportive of our investigation,” said DCS Flanagan.

• “CTP London has taken the lead for this investigation, and clearly that is because at the outset there was concern that the attack may have had some kind of terrorism motivation. In terms of the investigation, currently we are keeping an open mind as to any motivation. We are exploring a number of different potential motivations for the attack,” she added. The police have described the investigation as an extremely delicate process, given the young ages of many of the eyewitnesses from the school.

• “Our prosecutors have worked to establish that there is sufficient evidence to bring this case to court and that it is in the public interest to pursue criminal proceedings,” said a spokesperson for the UK’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

• “We have worked closely with the police as they have carried out their investigation. We remind all concerned that criminal proceedings against this defendant are active and that he has the right to a fair trial.

• “It is vital that there should be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice these proceedings,” the spokesperson said.