A 14-year-old boy repeatedly stabbed a schoolgirl inside a store after she rejected his romantic advances, authorities in England say, in a terrifying attack captured on surveillance video.
The boy, who cannot be publicly identified because of his age, was sentenced Monday, Sept. 21, after previously pleading guilty to wounding with intent, inflicting grievous bodily harm without intent and possessing a bladed article in a public place.
The attack unfolded March 15 in Cirencester, a town in Gloucestershire in southwest England.
According to Gloucestershire Constabulary, the boy had become “obsessed” with the 14-year-old girl, who attended the same school.
Police said she rejected his advances in December 2025. Afterward, he allegedly began creating fake social media accounts to send her messages.
Months later, the situation turned violent.
Police said the boy was waiting near a shop on Upper Churnside when he spotted the girl entering the store to buy a drink. He followed her inside with a kitchen knife concealed in the pocket of his jeans.
Surveillance footage released by police shows the teenager approaching the girl inside the store before grabbing her and repeatedly attacking her with the knife.
A shopkeeper who witnessed the assault tried to intervene, grabbing the boy and attempting to pull him away from the girl.
The teenager then struck the shopkeeper in the back with the knife, police said.
The distraction gave the girl a chance to escape.
She ran from the shop and went to a neighboring property for help as the boy fled the area.
Police were called to Upper Churnside at about 11:15 a.m.
Officers located the teenager nearby and searched him. According to investigators, the knife was discovered inside his jeans pocket. Police also noticed a fresh cut on his hand.
The girl survived the attack but suffered cuts to her neck, face and hands along with bruising on her back.
The shopkeeper suffered a cut to his back.
Investigators said the outcome could have been far worse.
Detective Superintendent Ian Fletcher, head of Serious and Complex Investigations for Gloucestershire Constabulary, described what happened as a “frenzied attack” carried out in broad daylight.
Fletcher said the girl was extremely fortunate that none of the stab wounds proved fatal.
“We could easily have been looking at a fatal incident if that knife had pierced her anywhere else,” he said following the sentencing.
The physical wounds were only part of the aftermath.
In a victim statement read to the court, the teenage girl described how the attack has changed her daily life.
She said she now becomes frightened when people unexpectedly move near her and sometimes flinches if someone raises a hand.
“I’m scared and nervous anywhere that I go,” she told the court.
The teenager also said she suffered nightmares after the stabbing and initially struggled to leave her home.
She said the experience has affected her ability to trust other people and left her uncomfortable being outside by herself.
“I shouldn’t have to feel like this as a teenager in my own area,” she said.
The boy appeared at Bristol Crown Court, which was sitting as a youth court for the case.
He received a 12-month referral order along with a three-year restraining order.
A referral order is a type of community sentence used in England and Wales for offenders under 18. Rather than automatically sending the young person into custody, the order places them under the supervision of the youth justice system and requires them to work with a youth offender panel on a program designed to address their behavior.
The program can include rehabilitation, interventions and efforts aimed at preventing further offending. A young person who breaks the conditions of a community sentence can be brought back before a court and could ultimately face custody.
The separate three-year restraining order places longer-term restrictions designed to protect the victim.
The case also highlights why the boy’s identity has not been released. Children accused or convicted of crimes in England and Wales are generally afforded special identity protections in youth court proceedings, which is why police have referred to him only as a 14-year-old boy from Wiltshire.
For the victim, police said the focus is now on recovering from an attack that investigators believe came frighteningly close to becoming a homicide.
“My hope now is that the victim is able to move on from these deeply traumatic events and start to rebuild her life again,” Fletcher said.
Gee. Lemme venture one guess…first name of the perp is Mohamed?