I Love It When A Plan Doesn't Come Together...

Defence lawyer Henna Baig said it was possible her client was “not himself” during the November 20 attack last year.

“He states he can’t remember what happened on the day and he wasn’t feeling himself,” she said.

“He says it wasn’t his knife and he was holding it for a friend.”

The court also heard that the boy’s remorse for what he’d done had led him to self-harm and that he had considered suicide.

The boy appeared in court with his mother, who said he was struggling with the ill health of his father when he carried out the assault.

She said she partly blamed herself for the attack as her son wiped tears from his face.

“He’s always been a thoughtful child,” she said. “I took my eye off the ball and didn’t realise his state of mind – this is a different child completely.”

Bravo! Amazing performance! *throws bouquets onto stage floor*

Police were called by a witness who said he heard the victim screaming “leave me alone, you’re hurting me” and “stop stabbing me”.

The boy carried on the assault in front of police as the other attackers ran away.

Ah. Reality intrudes. Even the usually complacent magistrates might struggle here...

Magistrate Myrna Gilbert said she had no choice but to detain the youth.

“This was a heinous attack, it was a sustained attack,” she said.

“It was unprovoked and on an unknown young 14-year-old victim.

“It was a group assault and it involved humiliation.”

The boy was given a six-month detention and training order for the assault and a four-month detention and training order for possessing a knife to run concurrently. A £20 surcharge was imposed and the boy is seeing a psychiatrist.

I hope the chap has body armour.