Teacher says school stabbing was like horror movie

A teacher who restrained a girl after she stabbed two of his colleagues and a pupil said he still loses sleep a year after the incident.

Fiona Elias, Liz Hopkin and a pupil who cannot be named for legal reasons were stabbed by a teenager at Ysgol Dyffryn Aman in Ammanford, Carmarthenshire, last April.

The 14-year-old girl, who also cannot be named, was convicted of their attempted murder by a jury earlier this year and was given a 15-year sentence at Swansea Crown Court on Monday.

Former assistant head teacher Darrel Campbell described the incident as like "something out of a horror movie", and said there needed to be discussions over the safety of pupils and staff in schools across Wales.

"I've had countless sleepless nights. The incident is like it happened yesterday," said Mr Campbell, who held onto the girl after the attack while she still had a knife in her hand.

"As soon as I saw the knife, I was just focused on the girl. She said she was going to kill [the pupil].

"I ran after her. I grabbed her right hand which held the knife, I put her into a headlock and dragged her back. Everything else is a blur."

Ms Elias and Ms Hopkin suffered multiple stab wounds and both said they thought they would die in the incident on 24 April 2024.

Children were kept in lockdown for hours as the emergency services responded.

Mr Campbell, who now helps with behaviour and pastoral care at the school, said he had never come across such an "extreme" incident in his 42-year career at the school.

"I'd like to think it was an isolated incident, I'd like to think it would never happen again in any school in Wales," he added.

"But schools are a reflection of society, and it is something that the authorities, the Senedd, have to look at."

Mr Campbell's brother Cefin Campbell MS is Plaid Cymru's education spokesperson in the Senedd and has called for action on school safety.

"I haven't been in any discussion whatsoever," Darrel Campbell said.

"The only person I've spoken to is my brother. No-one from Carmarthen education authority has contacted me.

"Something needs to happen. There's no easy answer, but there certainly needs to be discussion, for the safety of pupils and staff in schools across Wales."

The number of violent incidents by pupils in schools across Wales has almost tripled since 2019, a teaching union said earlier this month.

The NASUWT requested data from Wales' councils to find out how many incidents were reported by school employees and found cases had risen from 2,483 in 2019-20 to 6,446 in 2023-24.

Carmarthenshire council leader Darren Price and James Durbridge, headteacher of Ysgol Dyffryn Aman, said the local authority had referred the case to the Regional Safeguarding Board and were awaiting its decision about the format and timeline of the multi-agency review.

The Welsh government said: "Our thoughts remain with everyone affected by this terrible case."

It said it recognised the impact on the school community and had provided additional funding to support.

It added that the Cabinet Secretary for Education was set to host a meeting on school safety and a National Behaviour Summit.

It previously said: "Any form of violence or abuse against staff or learners in our schools is completely unacceptable."