A 14-year-old girl has been arrested after two pupils and a teacher were stabbed at a school in north Manchester – an attack that prompted the mother of a previous school stabbing victim to declare knife crime ‘a pandemic’.
Emergency services were called to Co-op Academy on Plant Hill Road in Blackley on Tuesday morning as the school went into lockdown. Greater Manchester Police said a 14-year-old girl sustained a shoulder injury, a 14-year-old boy suffered an ear injury and a 27-year-old male teacher was stabbed in the neck. All three were taken to hospital with injuries not believed to be serious and are in a stable condition. The girl has been arrested on suspicion of section 18 assault, and police said they are not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident. Chief Inspector Jon Shilvock said the incident was ‘swiftly and quickly dealt with by staff before officers attending to arrest the girl’, adding that there is ‘no wider threat at this time’.
“Caroline Willgoose says knife crime is 'a pandemic' after two pupils and a teacher were stabbed at a Manchester school.”
The Co-op Academies Trust, which runs the school, said: ‘Shortly after the start of the school day, an incident occurred on site involving a pupil with a knife. The school was immediately placed into lockdown, and staff acted bravely to quickly detain a student before emergency services arrived.’ Headteacher Phill Quirk told parents everyone was safe and the school was closed for the day. The trust acknowledged that while their policies outline strict screening and search powers, ‘weapons can unfortunately be small and easily concealed without prior indicators’, adding: ‘We had no reason to conduct a search on any student this morning.’
Caroline Willgoose, whose 15-year-old son Harvey was stabbed to death in the courtyard of All Saints Catholic High School in Sheffield last year, said she was ‘horrified’ by Tuesday’s attack. Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, she said: ‘How many times do students or teachers need to get injured before action is taken? The last thing I thought I would be doing was speaking about knife crime, as everyone thinks it is a gang-related thing. But Harvey's and today's again proves it isn't – it is a pandemic.’ Harvey suffered two fatal stab wounds from his former friend Mohammed Umar Khan, who was detained for life with a minimum term of 16 years. Caroline has been campaigning for metal detector arches to be placed in every school. ‘They should have gone into all schools as soon as what happened to Harvey,’ she said. ‘I urge parents to ask their children if they have seen or heard of someone having a knife while in school, and I am sure they will be surprised by what they have to say.’ Reading about school stabbings, she added, ‘opens up old wounds for me’. ‘Why should teachers and pupils be going into school and not feeling safe?’