Lisa Potts: Wolverhampton plans highest honour for machete heroine

Wolverhampton Council wants to bestow its highest honour on Lisa Potts

A former nursery teacher who was injured protecting her pupils from a machete attack is set to receive a council's highest honour.

Lisa Potts hid pupils under her skirt when Horrett Campbell targeted St Luke's Primary School in Wolverhampton in July 1996.

Just 21 at the time, her bravery has already been acknowledged by the Queen, who awarded her the George Medal.

Wolverhampton City Council now intends to grant her freedom of the city.

Ms Potts was awarded the George Medal for bravery

Campbell, a paranoid schizophrenic, was detained by a judge indefinitely in a secure hospital after the attack.

He had lived near the school and leapt a fence with the blade, injuring three children and three women, as well as Ms Potts.

"Lisa still keeps in touch with many of the children and has supported them through the years," a report by David Pattison, the council's chief operating officer, said.

Ms Potts was 21 when the school was attacked in 1996

Seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the report goes on to list Ms Potts' other achievements, including setting up a local charity and retraining as an adult nurse.

Freedom of the City is "the most honourable distinction that a city can bestow," Mr Pattison's report said.

Councillors will discuss the proposal at a meeting on 2 March.