Teenage girl who vowed to 'leave school with a bang' almost stabbed welfare officer to death
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A 16-year-old girl vowed to "go out with a bang in Year 11" before almost stabbing a welfare officer to death has been jailed for seven years .
Elisha Burkill attacked Joy Simon, 61, in an office at Winterton Community Academy, near Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, in September last year.
The court heard Burkill "probably would have killed" Mrs Simon if she had not been restrained.
Mrs Simon lost almost a third of her blood in the attack and had originally thought Burkill was coming into her office to give her a hug.
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Judge Jeremy Richardson QC, sitting at Hull Crown Court , told the teenager : "It was plainly premeditated.
"I have no doubt that if you had not been restrained ... you would have, in all likelihood, killed Mrs Simon. You very nearly did."
He said Burkill had hatched “a devious and determined plan” to attack Mrs Simon after deleting texts and social media content to “cover her tracks and hamper the police investigation”.
The judge heard how Burkill came "flying" into Mrs Simon's office on September 25 and stabbed her a number of times, repeatedly slamming the door as the support worker tried to escape.
He also heard how the attack came as a complete shock to the school and the teenager's family, as Burkill was seen as a model, high-achieving pupil.
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But Burkill was suffering from a serious depressive illness, which she had hidden from her family.
Hull Crown Court was told a police search of the schoolgirl’s belongings after her arrest showed she was a ticking timebomb.
One chilling message read: “I'm not scared about giving up anymore. It's already happened. Giving up is an opportunity and now I will take it. Take. Take. Take.”
Another chilling note read she wanted “to go out with a bang in Year 11”.
The disturbed teenager’s “dark thoughts” were only discovered after she repeatedly lunged at 61-year-old exclusion officer Joy Simon with a three inch kitchen knife.
The "kindly and caring” mother-of-two had been alone in her office at Winterton Community Academy when the teenager burst in and flew at her across the desk.
Ironically, her victim “thought she was going to give her a hug.”
Mrs Simon thought this was inappropriate so moved back. She then felt herself being stabbed in the right upper shoulder as the girl continued to slash at her.
(Image: Benjamin Paul/SWNS.com)
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Mrs Simon grabbed the office door handle to try to get out. But her attacker kept shutting the door.
Mrs Simon's screams for help were heard by colleagues who burst into the room and managed to part the two of them and kick away the dropped knife.
The keen runner who completed five London Marathons suffered “life-threatening injuries” and lost 29 per cent of her blood.
She has been scarred for life and left in constant discomfort from her slashed left cheek.
Mitigating via video link from the Old Bailey, Diana Ellis QC said the attack happened two days after the teenager’s 16th birthday.
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She continued: “The knowledge of what she did will remain with her to haunt her.
“As Mrs Simon’s life has been disrupted so has that of the defendant and her family who have been left shocked and stunned by the events of that day.
“The injuries were quite horrific and will have a degree of permanence.”
Burkill was described as “something of a loner” whose isolation was increased when the few friends she had moved away or went on to higher education.
Miss Ellis said her true feelings were revealed in the notes she hand wrote to herself in her room, often at 5am when she was unable to sleep.
Written in the months preceding the attack “they included a song she composed which we feel reflects some of her feelings,” Miss Ellis continued.
“It is probably sufficient to note that what they contain are repeated references to sadness, her misery and feelings of fear. She feared returning to school.”
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She took a dislike to Mrs Simon because she felt she was someone who should be helping her.
Miss Ellis begged for the girl to be released before she turns 18 and enters the adult prison system.
She added: “Her actions in that day were acts of desperation.
“She was in a state of numbness. Those who saw her will describe someone without words and emotions in the time afterwards.”
But the judge was concerned at the teenager’s “chameleon-like” personality and the “sheer unpredictability” of her behaviour.
Because of her unhappiness and self-harming “a level of fury could arise along the lines of the fury that arose with regard to Mrs Simon,” he said.
The teenager pleaded guilty to wounding with intent and carrying a bladed weapon on September 25 after denying charge of attempted murder - which was dropped.
Mrs Simon sat in the public gallery with her back to the defendant with her arms folder and lips pursed during the mitigation.
The judge banned the publication of any pictures of Burkill or her family.
After serving her sentence Burkill will then spend five years released under licence and will be 28 before she is free of the sentence.
The teenager showed no emotion as she was sentenced.