School attack teenager guilty of attempted GBH

The attack prompted the school to go into lockdown on 1 May

A teenager who used pieces of broken glass to attack a pupil and staff at a school has been found guilty of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm with intent.

Sheffield Crown Court had heard how 17-year-old Louis Melotte claimed he had received "a calling from Lord Jesus Christ" prior to the attack at Birley Academy in Sheffield on 1 May.

Melotte, who used to be a student at the school, had previously pleaded guilty to wounding and possession of a sharply pointed object on school premises.

Following the jury's guilty verdicts on Wednesday, Melotte was told by the judge he would face a "substantial" custodial sentence.

The teenager, from Sheffield, who could not previously be named due to his age, was remanded into custody and was expected to be sentenced later this month.

Earlier this week, the court was told that Melotte had attended Birley Academy from 2018 to the 2019-20 academic year.

School in lockdown

The jury heard that on the day of the attack, he had shared a series of posts on social media platforms.

In one post, on Reddit, he said: “Today is the day; a calling from the Lord Jesus Christ has been cast upon me.

"To do what God Almighty thinks is necessary.”

He also contacted another teenage boy on Snapchat to say he was going to do “what needs to be done” and that the school “was done for”.

The court heard that on the morning of 1 May, CCTV footage captured Melotte "calmly" walking from his home address to the school with pieces of broken glass secreted up his sleeve.

At about 08:50 BST he entered the school's reception area where he launched an unprovoked attack on a 12-year-old girl, which prompted the school to go into lockdown.

The school's receptionist and a youth worker tried to intervene and were in turn hit and scratched by the teenager.

They suffered injuries to their arms, necks and ears and one of them overheard the defendant shout: "I'm going to kill you."

The teenager is expected to be sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court on 23 August

Katy Rafter, prosecuting, said it was pure good fortune that those involved in the attack were not more seriously injured.

The youth worker, who eventually managed to restrain Melotte, said the 17-year-old started to scratch his own face and said: “It’s the Antichrist, it’s God’s plan."

Upon his arrest, the teenager made further comments about “accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour”.

The court was told that Melotte, who had no previous convictions, had been diagnosed with autism and had struggled with his mental health.

Consultant psychiatrist Dr Nicholas Kennedy told the jury Melotte had told him he had no recollection of the violence in the school's reception area.

Dr Kennedy said that for about one and a half years there had been evidence of psychotic symptoms and he concluded that on 1 May the teenager had experienced a psychotic episode.

Following the trial at Sheffield Crown Court, a jury of six men and six women found Melotte guilty on Wednesday of three counts of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm with intent.

He was expected to be sentenced on 23 August.

Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North or tell us a story you think we should be covering here.