Girl, 13, detained for stabbing adoptive mother

The Old Bailey heard the girl used a kitchen knife to attack her 47-year-old mother at the family home in Wimbledon

A 13-year-old girl has been detained for 18 months for stabbing her adoptive mother.

The Old Bailey heard she was 12 when she used a kitchen knife to attack the 47-year-old at the family home in Wimbledon, south-west London, on 2 March, wounding her arm.

In September, she went on to attack three care workers with a knife she had borrowed on the pretext of peeling grapes, the court heard.

The girl had denied attempting to murder her adoptive mother but admitted the offence of wounding with intent, during an earlier hearing.

'High risk'

She also pleaded guilty to making threats to kill, and two charges of attempted wounding with intent in relation to the attack on the care workers.

Judge Judy Khan KC told her: “I very much hope that you will get the support you need and you will be able to learn from your past mistakes.

“You are very young and there is every reason you can turn your life around and be happy and successful in the future.”

The judge explained her decision to hand the girl a custodial sentence, saying she had taken into account her age, welfare and rehabilitation.

The court heard the judge also considered the girl to pose a “high risk of harm to others” in the future.