Police looking into school knife threat as victim struggles

POLICE are investigating after a schoolboy allegedly threatened to stab a girl as he brandished a knife at her chest in a home-economics class.

The pupil was accused of using a large blade belonging to Perryfields Academy to make the threat.

It was said to have been stored in a box in the classroom and was not in use by pupils at the time of the incident at the Oldbury secondary school on November 20 last year.

The victim’s parents said she had suffered panic attacks as the boy had remained in school.

They said they feared their daughter – “a good student with good grades” – could have to move schools if a resolution was not found.

West Midlands Police said officers were alerted to a boy making threatening comments to another pupil while holding a knife, and enquiries continued.

Perryfields Academy said it had put measures in place to support all those involved in the alleged incident. But the girl’s parents said they felt the incident was not being taken seriously enough.

They claimed: “She was very upset, now she feels the school doesn’t support her, she’s starting to get panic attacks.

“A boy in school had threatened her with a knife that belonged to the school, it was in a box. They weren’t using the knife in class that day, they were using scalpels to peel potatoes.

“It’s my belief the child went in the box when he shouldn’t have been in there, took the knife, made some slang comments about my daughter’s rear end and made a sexual comment.

“When she told him ‘no, go away’, he said ‘do you want to get shanked?’ and waved a knife at her chest,” they claimed.

A school spokesman said: “Safeguarding is of paramount importance to us, and we have put in place measures to support all those involved in the alleged incident.

“We will continue to liaise with the families and police towards a positive outcome.”

A West Midlands Police spokesman said: “We received a report of a boy with a knife making threatening comments towards another pupil. We have liaised with the pupil’s family and the school and will be carrying out further enquiries.”