14-year-old who stabbed girl 10 times in Cirencester shop given referral order, not jail

Right · 2A 14-year-old boy who stabbed a girl at least 10 times with a six-inch kitchen knife at a shop in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, on 15 March has avoided custody. 1 2 Right · 2He pleaded guilty to wounding with intent, inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent and possessing a bladed article in a public place, and was given a 12-month referral order and a three-year restraining order at Gloucester Crown Court. 1 2 Right · 2The boy, who cannot be named because of his age, had become obsessed with the girl at his school and used fake social media accounts to message her after she rejected him in December 2025. 1 2

Right · 1On the morning of 15 March he waited near the shop and asked her out; when she refused, he followed her with a knife in his pocket and stabbed her, causing cuts to her neck, hands and face and, according to the Daily Mail, bruising to her back. 2 Right · 2A shopkeeper who tried to intervene was also stabbed; the Daily Mail says the shopkeeper's injuries were to the back. The attack was caught on CCTV. 2 1 Right · 2After admitting the assault the boy spent three months at Vinney Green, a secure unit in South Gloucestershire; at a June hearing Judge Ian Lawrie said he was "deeply unhappy" about that placement and released him on bail with an electronic tag and a 6pm to 7am home curfew. 1 2

Right · 1On the day of his release he did not return home until 1.30am, so the tag could not be fitted until the next day. 1 Right · 2Transcripts of the hearings, reported by the Daily Mail and, citing the Telegraph, GB News, show the judge calling the boy's "behavioural dysfunctionality" a cause of "grave concern" and describing the attack as premeditated, persistent and terrifying, while also calling him a "bright lad" and saying "custody is the last place you should be". 1 2 Right · 2The judge also said the boy was "a little bit temperamental" as a 14-year-old, and, per the Daily Mail, that the knife was "not a highly dangerous weapon" and the assault, though persistent, was "not of great duration". 2 1

Right · 1A psychiatric report suggested the boy, who had no previous convictions and good school attendance, might have autism. At the September sentencing the judge said he had difficulties but not of a nature that made him a danger, and that he was still young and capable of learning. 1 Right · 1The referral order is likely to involve programmes addressing his offending, and the judge told him he would not be brought back to court if he complied. 1 Right · 1In a victim statement the girl said she is scared anywhere she goes, has nightmares, and is now driven to work because she does not want to be outside alone. 2

Right · 1Her mother, speaking to the BBC, said the family feel "incredibly let down" and that "everyone's failed us", arguing that someone who commits an adult crime should face punishment regardless of age. 2 Right · 1Detective Superintendent Ian Fletcher of the police called it a "frenzied attack" in broad daylight and said the victim was "very, very lucky" to have escaped with minor injuries. 2