Stabbed Bradford Teacher Forgives Teenager Who Boasted Of Attack On Facebook

Vincent Uzomah making a statement outside Bradford Crown Court after a 14-year-old boy who stabbed him was sentenced to 11 years detention.

A teacher who was stabbed by a pupil in a racially-motivated attack says he has forgiven his 14-year-old attacker. After the assault on Vincent Uzomah at Dixons Kings Academy, in Bradford, the boy bragged on Facebook: "I stick the blade straight in his tummy."'

After a judge ordered the boy to be locked up for up for six years, Mr Uzomah, speaking outside court, said: "As a Christian I have forgiven this boy who has inflicted this trauma and pain on me and my family."

The boy used an offensive racist term before stabbing Mr Uzomah in the stomach, Bradford Crown Court heard.

Daily Mail UK report continues:

About 20 minutes after the attack, he posted a message which read: ''The motherf***** getin funny so I stick the blade straight in his tummy.''

The Facebook post received at least 69 ''likes'', the court heard.

Dixons Kings Academy in Bradford where a 14-year-old boy stabbed supply teacher Vincent Uzomah

Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC branded the youth a "dangerous young offender".

He sentenced him to an 11-year extended sentence which includes six years custody and a further five years on licence. He could serve half of the six years.

The judge added: "What you have done is utterly shocking, deliberately, callously stabbing him."

He rejected an application for the youth's identity to be made public saying the 14-year-old's "welfare must come first and the public interest must give way".

Mr Uzomah said: "First and foremost I want to thank God, who made it possible that I survived. I want to thank the Lord Jesus Christ, whose name I was constantly calling after the stabbing and he didn't let me down. I also want to thank everyone who supported me and my family one way or the other after this ordeal."

After he revealed that he had forgiven his attacker, he went on: "It was however important for the law to run its course and for a strong message to be sent out, especially to kids of similar tendencies, that violence is not acceptable.

"Our prayer for him is that he will make use of the opportunities and support that will be provided to him to become a changed person who will make a positive contribution to the society."

Jonathan Sharp, principal crown advocate for the CPS in Yorkshire and Humberside, said outside court: "This was a truly shocking incident: a pre-planned attack by a 14-year-old youth on his teacher, in front of the rest of the class.

"Mr Uzomah was stabbed deeply in the stomach, with a knife that the youth had brought into the school specifically for that purpose. It also seems that the attack was at least in part racially motivated - the youth used a highly offensive racist word just before stabbing his teacher. The victim has suffered serious physical and psychological injuries, has had to put his career plans on hold and is uncertain when, or if, he will feel able to return to teaching - a profession he loved. It was also shocking and profoundly distressing to Mr Uzomah that the youth posted a Facebook update boasting of what he had done. This subsequently received 69 'likes' from the youth's circle of acquaintances.

"In the circumstances, it is remarkable that Mr Uzomah has expressed his desire to forgive the victim, whilst wishing to see justice done as a deterrent to others. I hope that the sentence passed today gives Mr Uzomah and his family some comfort. Our thoughts remain with them."

Judge Durham Hall condemned the boy's Facebook post and those who liked it as "sick".

He said: "It's an appalling reflection on a small microcosm of our society that within minutes or hours after posting, 69 people 'liked'. How sick."

The teenager sat in the dock wearing a grey shirt and jeans. He yawned and folded his arms as the judge passed sentence.

Judge Durham Hall told him: "You went to your school armed with a knife with a significant blade intending, when the opportunity presented, to stab your teacher Vincent Uzomah. You boasted about it before, you boasted about it after when you had stabbed him."

He told the boy he "stabbed him deliberately then gloated in the presence of your classmates".

The judge continued: "What you did to Vincent Uzomah was of such shocking seriousness that this man sitting in court, a God-fearing gentleman, first of all thought he was going to die.

"You have, by your actions, changed his life."

Judge Durham Hall said he rejected the boy's explanation to psychiatrists that he stabbed Mr Uzomah because he was hearing voices.

He said Mr Uzomah had to tell the teenager off from time to time because he was disruptive.

"Suggestions you were calling him a n****r and the inference I must draw is that was a factor. You could not tolerate being told off by this gentleman of this background," he said.

As he passed sentence, the judge told the boy: "You are a dangerous young offender."

Speaking outside court, Detective Superintendent Simon Atkinson, of West Yorkshire Police, described the attack as "shocking and very serious" and said the teenager showed no concern for Mr Uzomah by fleeing the scene.

He added: "He worryingly showed a further lack of remorse towards his victim by boasting about his actions on social media."

Mr Atkinson said he hoped the sentence would give some closure to Mr Uzomah who he described as being "incredibly magnanimous towards his attacker".

The court heard that the boy, who was described by others as "disruptive and a bully", had taken a dislike to Mr Uzomah in the seven weeks he had worked at the school.

Jonathan Sharp, prosecuting, said: "He did not show any especial hostility to other teachers. Mr Uzomah, however, is black.

"The defendant disliked him, claiming he couldn't teach, and freely referred to him by the epithet beginning with the letter N, including saying it in anger just before he attacked him.

"The Crown's case in consequence is that the attack was, at least in part, racially motivated."

Mr Sharp said the boy told a friend the previous day that he was planning to stab a teacher and took a knife with a "substantial blade" into school on June 11, discussing his plans with other pupils.

He stabbed Mr Uzomah after a row over his mobile phone.

Mr Sharp said the boy was described by witnesses as "getting angry, red in the face and putting his head down and muttering the words 'bastard' and 'n****r'".

He said: "He approached Mr Uzomah and reached into his pocket but at that point he took out the knife and stabbed Mr Uzomah in the stomach."

He added: "Mr Uzomah thought he was going to die."

The boy fled the school, disposed of the phone and the knife, which was never found, and was arrested later that afternoon in the centre of Bradford.

He remained silent throughout the police interview process but gave a prepared statement, which read: "I am really sorry for stabbing my teacher. I do not know what is wrong with me. I do know I did not intend to kill him. I want to say sorry to Mr Uzomah and I hope he is feeling better soon."

The defendant has previous convictions for attempted robbery and common assault and was on bail for an offence of burglary at the time of the attack.

Mr Uzomah was taken to hospital after the attack and was treated for injuries to his stomach and bowel.

Mr Sharp read out the teacher's personal statement in court, in which he described the impact of the attack on him and his family.

He said the "unfortunate" incident happened while he was "delivering my duty in a profession I loved".