Snapchat used by teenagers to plan Barry island stabbing

BBC News

a day ago

Teenage boys who used Snapchat to plan the stabbing of a 12-year-old girl have been given youth detention sentences of two and three years.Cardiff Crown Court heard the boys, now aged 13 and 16, used the app to discuss sourcing knives, luring the girl to Barry Island, Vale of Glamorgan, and carrying out the attack.On 23 November 2024, they took her to the Harbour Road car park, where she was choked, repeatedly stabbed, and kicked in the face, leaving her unconscious.The defendants, who cannot be named because of their ages, were sentenced at Cardiff Crown Court after admitting wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
The girl, who knew the boys, spent three days at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff, where she underwent three operations. She has since been diagnosed with PTSD and said she thinks about the attack "every day", the court heard.The night before the attack, the boys discussed their plans on Snapchat, with prosecutors outlining what was said. "Bruv, we meeting [her] down Asda?" the 13-year-old asked. They talked about bringing "tings", slang for blades, and said they would "ching" the girl, which is slang for stabbing.The 13-year-old also told his co-defendant, who was then 15, to "wear gloves", and they discussed cleaning the knives afterward.The next morning, the now 16-year-old brought a knife from home and met the girl in the supermarket car park.She had used Snapchat to arrange the meeting, and the three spent the day at Barry Island amusements before the attack.
When the victim came around after the attack, she heard the boys laughing, before running home for help.Her mother described blood spraying everywhere from wounds to her head, back and hands. On the way to hospital, the girl asked paramedics whether she was going to die.The victim cannot be named after Judge Tracey Lloyd-Clarke imposed reporting restrictions on naming her.But in a statement read to the court by prosecutor Tom Roberts, she said she thinks about the incident "on a daily basis"."Every day when the sun sets, I begin to think about the attack," said Mr Roberts, adding: "I see my scars every day and I can't avoid them."
Kevin Seal, representing the 13-year-old, told the court, in mitigation, that his client had experienced significant trauma from the age of eight and that he has "limited capacity for reasoning and comprehension".Educational psychiatric assessments are under way."He's been let down already in his life by possibly every adult he's come into contact with both professional and personal," said Mr Seal, adding: "this may be his last chance."For the 16-year-old, defence barrister Dan Jones said his client had never committed an offence before, and that he had shown remorse for his actions.
Judge Tracey Lloyd-Clark said both boys had initially blamed each other for stabbing the girl, before they both pleaded guilty at a hearing in March."Neither of you is telling the whole truth," she said, adding: You both acted together, and you are both to blame."She sentenced the 13-year-old to two years and 173 days youth detention, and the 16-year-old to three years and 260 days.Both were also given restraining orders preventing them from contacting their victim indefinitely.