Gloucestershire stabbing, USA News (Cirencester, Gloucestershire): A teenage boy who stabbed a girl 10 times with a kitchen knife after she rejected his romantic advances has avoided jail. The boy attacked the girl with a six-inch kitchen knife at a shop in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, in March. He pleaded guilty to wounding with intent, inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent and possession of a bladed article in a public place.
However, he was spared jail after a judge at Gloucester Crown Court said that prison was the “last place” for a “bright lad” like him, instead sentencing him to a 12-month referral order and a three-year restraining order, according to reports. Newly released court transcripts reveal the boy, who cannot be identified because of his age, became obsessed with the girl at his school. The 14-year-old then used fake social media accounts to message her after she rejected his advances in December 2025.
In March, he waited for the girl near the shop and asked her out. When she once again turned him down, he followed her with a knife in his pocket and stabbed her at least 10 times, inflicting cuts to her neck, hands and face, while also stabbing a shopkeeper who tried to intervene. Judge Ian Lawrie told the teenage offender that he was imposing a curfew and instructed him not to contact the victim and her mother directly or indirectly.
After he admitted to the assault, the boy spent three months in Vinney Green, a secure unit in South Gloucestershire for 10 to 17-year-olds. At an initial hearing in June, Judge Lawrie stated he was “deeply unhappy” that the teenager had been sent to Vinney Green. The young offender was subsequently released on bail on an electronic tag with an order to stay at home between 6pm and 7am daily.
Judge Lawrie noted the boy had a “behavioural dysfunctionality” causing grave concern, describing the attack as premeditated, persistent and terrifying. A psychiatric report suggested the boy, who had no previous convictions and a good school attendance record, might have autism. At the final court hearing in September, the judge concluded that the boy was not a danger, noting he was still young and capable of learning, before issuing the 12-month referral order and three-year restraining order.
