Two teenagers stabbed in separate attacks

Two schoolchildren have been stabbed in separate knife attacks within 24 hours.

A 15-year-old boy was knifed and hit with a bat in the street in Bradford on Thursday afternoon, and 14-year-old Chloe West was airlifted to hospital on Friday morning after she was stabbed repeatedly outside her secondary school in the West Midlands.

Staff, parents and pupils stepped in to stop the second attack and detain a teenage suspect outside Ridgewood High School in Stourbridge.

West Midlands Police said an 18-year-old man, believed to have been known to Chloe, was arrested at the scene.

Chloe was rushed to Birmingham Children’s Hospital with several wounds to her upper body.

Police said she was due to undergo surgery but was in a “stable and improving” condition.

Superintendent Stuart Johnson said: “I would just like to pay tribute to the very brave individuals who, without too much thought for their own safety, intervened at the time of the incident this morning.

“They showed tremendous bravery in intervening and actually detaining the suspect.

“In my opinion – based on medical evidence – they clearly prevented far more serious injuries to Chloe.”

Witnesses said the attacker arrived at the scene in a car which had been driven up the road at high speed.

Asked whether victim and suspect were in a relationship, Mr Johnson said: “We’ve certainly received information this morning that the two people involved know each other.

“Whether that formed the basis of a relationship or not, certainly the indications are that they knew each other in the past.”

He added: “I understand there were a number of pupils arriving for school this morning, who witnessed the incident.

“Clearly that would be traumatic for them and the education authority will be looking after their interests.”

In Bradford, a 15-year-old boy was being treated for stab wounds today after he was attacked in a street.

West Yorkshire Police said the 15-year-old boy was in a “serious but stable” condition at Bradford Royal Infirmary following the assault in the Barkerend area on Thursday afternoon.

A police spokesman said: “He sustained stab wounds to his body and is believed to have been assaulted with a bat during an incident.”

He said a 14-year-old boy and a 24-year-old man have been arrested in connection with the incident and remain in police custody.