A 13-year-old boy was recovering after he was stabbed during a woodwork class by a Polish student – wielding a SCREWDRIVER.
Terrified Ben Townsend, 13, suffered horrific injuries after the boy, plunged the 3in (7.62cm) screwdriver into his back during a lesson.
Ben was rushed to hospital and warned he could suffer permanent muscle damage from the 2in (5cm) stab wound.
Ben was in the middle of a design technology lesson at Simon De Montfort School in Evesham, Worcs., when he was attacked just before 2.30pm on Wednesday.
Ben revealed he had been targeted over a feud with a group of Polish bullies who were making pupils’ lives ”a misery”.
He said: ”It was scary really. I thought I’d been punched really hard until one of my friends said ‘Oh my God you’ve been stabbed’.
”I felt lots of blood streaming down my back and everyone in the class was screaming.
”I saw the boy walk out of his chair in front of me and pick up something from the tool cabinet.
”He walked round the back of my chair and stabbed me in the back.
”I hadn’t said anything to him and have no idea why he attacked me. It puzzled me why he wanted to hurt me.
”He’s a notorious trouble maker and him and his mates are known for bullying and fighting with other kids. They make everyone’s lives a misery.”
Police were called to the school where they arrested the boy and led him away in handcuffs.
He was released on police bail hours later and officers remained guarding the school until late on Wednesday night.
Ben’s dad Richard, 40, who runs his own under-floor heating business in Evesham, said: ”Ben could have been killed.
”I got a phone call at about 2.30pm to say could I go to the school immediately, Ben wanted me.
”She [the headteacher] said there has been an incident and Ben has been stabbed. I just jumped in the car and flew to the school which is literally five minutes from here.
”He was in a lot of shock, there were police cars everywhere, there were paramedics there.
”They had him sat in the head teacher’s office with all the sticky tabs on him and the oxygen mask on him, testing his blood and lungs and everything.
”You could perhaps understand it more if it had happened during a fight but this was a pre-meditated, cold-hearted attack on an innocent boy doing his class work.
”Ben was shaking when I saw him at the hospital. I think he thought it could have been so much worse.”
The boy has been excluded from school for the rest of the term and a decision on his future will be decided in the next week.
The school claimed the boys had been arguing moments before the attack.
Headteacher Caroline Brown said the school had taken ”appropriate action”.
West Mercia Police confirmed a boy was arrested in connection with the attack and had been released on police bail pending further investigation.
