Teacher stabbed by girl 'could never' return to work

Liz Hopkin was stabbed by a student during break time in April last year

A teacher who was attacked by a student in a triple stabbing at a school last year said she "could never" return to work.

Liz Hopkin, along with fellow teacher Fiona Elias and a pupil, was stabbed during break time at Ysgol Dyffryn Aman in Carmarthenshire on 24 April 2024.

The girl, who was 13 at the time and cannot be named, was sentenced to 15 years in detention earlier this year, after she was found guilty of attempted murder.

In her first interview since the attack, Ms Hopkin recalled grabbing the teenager who had lunged at her colleague with a knife as she shouted "I'm going to kill you".

"It's been a long time but it's still very much vivid there in my head," Ms Hopkin told BBC Wales.

"It was intent. Had Fiona been there on her own at that point, the outcome would have been very different.

"She stabbed me in the leg and then she came towards me and stabbed me in the neck and then twice in the back."

The girl had told fellow pupils on the morning of the attack she would stab Ms Elias.

Ms Hopkin said she did not know the student and only learned her name after the attack.

"There were so many children around and I just wanted to keep them safe," she added.

"I thought that was the end, really. I haven't been back to work. I can't ever imagine doing that work again, I can't imagine going into a school, I can't go past the front of the school.

"I feel like I've got a lot to offer but everything stopped that day."

Earlier this year, the trial at Swansea Crown Court heard the girl would carry a knife to school every day.

A multi-agency review was published on Wednesday which outlined how the teenager was fascinated by war and weapons.

The report suggested the girl had a troubled childhood and mental health challenges.

Its author, Gladys Rhodes White, made 11 recommendations to agencies and said the girl would have benefitted from "targeted help" if information had been "fully shared and assessed".

Ms Hopkin said she welcomed the report but still had concerns.

"The recommendations and what has come up in that report isn't anything new," she said.

"Thinking that there were times where perhaps people or agencies in particular could have discussed or shared this information and worked together, it could have made a massive difference.

"What will help is that if people take the report seriously and don't just shelve it.

"The incidents that are happening are the tip of the iceberg. There isn't enough action.

"I want the Welsh government to be looking more deeply into why these situations happen. Nothing has changed."

The review by Ms Rhodes White found the girl was seen as "quirky" and had "unusual interests" in war memorabilia and Hitler

Ms Hopkin's calls have been echoed by unions and politicians including Plaid Cymru Senedd member and former Ysgol Dyffryn Aman pupil Adam Price, who called on the Welsh government to implement a policy response.

"Two of the most striking things are the need for an overhaul of the way information is shared between agencies, if that jigsaw had been connected, could it have helped prevent this incident from happening?," said Mr Price.

"We've had the summit but what we haven't yet seen is a vision and a way forward, implementing practical concrete policy changes in a whole host of areas, building on the lessons and recommendations learned in this report, but insights from teaching unions and others too.

"Because my fear is if that doesn't happen, then we could, and probably will be looking at other tragedies in the future which could be even more serious."

The teenager used her father's multi-tool knife to attack Ms Hopkin, Ms Elias and another student

In a joint statement, Carmarthenshire council, the headteacher of Ysgol Dyffryn Aman, Dyfed-Powys Police and Hywel Dda health board said they acknowledged the "challenging and difficult circumstance faced by the victims and the whole community" after the incident.

"We have received the independent report in respect of the Multi-Agency Professional Forum (MAPF), and will work with all partners to develop an action plan to address its recommendations," they said.

"While it is not usual to publish reviews of this type, or for such a review to be undertaken independently, it was agreed for the Mid and West Wales Safeguarding Children's Board to publish the report on behalf of the agencies involved in the MAPF to ensure all possible efforts have been made to learn from these events and to do so in a transparent and open way."

The Welsh government said: "It is vital lessons are learnt from this tragic and shocking event to ensure incidents like this never happen again.

"It is clear the school did everything it could in response to the incident."

It added it was working with partners "to develop more effective, multi-agency approaches to address behaviour issues in schools".