Boy, 15, admits murder attempt of 85-year-old

Ateenager fled from a school and tried to murder an 85-year-old woman in her home near Montrose by repeatedly stabbing her, a court heard.

The boy inflicted multiple wounds on the pensioner with a knife taken from her own kitchen during the attack at her rural cottage.

A judge at the High Court in Edinburgh told the attacker, who also robbed his victim of £80: “You have pled guilty to a truly terrible crime but you are only 15 years old.

“You are a child.” Lord Richardson deferred sentence on the teenager, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, for the preparation of reports.

Advocate depute Gavin Anderson told the court: “The complainer has previously stated that she was traumatised by the events and would never feel safe within her home address.”

The prosecutor said the teenager was earlier made the subject of a care order by a court in England and placed in the care of an English local authority.

He stayed in care settings before becoming resident at a school in Scotland in 2020, where he was under supervision.

Mr Anderson said his previous convictions included offences of possessing a weapon and battery.

The teenager broke free from a staff member at the Scottish school after stating he was planning to return to England.

Staff searched for him and police were alerted. On the night of the attack – on September 15 last year – the victim went into her kitchen to make a cup of tea before going to bed.

She found the teenage intruder standing there, wearing a face covering.

Mr Anderson said: “She noticed that the accused was holding a knife, which she realised was one of her own which she kept in her kitchen.”

The boy approached his victim, who reached for her wallet and took out four £20 notes before telling him if he was after money he should take it and leave.

The teenager took the cash but continued to brandish the knife as the householder unlocked the back doors of the cottage.

Mr Anderson said the pensioner told him: “Put the knife down.” The prosecutor said: “It is the accused’s position that at that point the complainer waved her walking stick at him; the complainer denies having done so and denies that she even had her walking stick with her at that point.”

He said: “The accused then said ‘like this, like this’ and began repeatedly stabbing the complainer to her upper body.”

The teenager threw the knife down and fled from the cottage, while the attack victim made a 999 call and tried to contact her daughters and neighbours.

The victim was taken to hospital where she was found to have suffered wounds to her torso.

Officers spotted the teenager walking on the A92 road near Montrose in the early hours of September 16.

He was found to have £80 concealed in his boxer shorts.

The teenager admitted assaulting and attempting to murder the woman after entering the property uninvited, brandishing a knife at her and repeatedly striking her on the body with the weapon to her severe injury, permanent disfigurement and danger of her life and robbing her of £80.

The teenager’s guilty plea was tendered in a courtroom closed to members of the public but in the presence of his mother.

He was told he would be held in his current secure accommodation before a further court appearance in June.