Pupils describe ‘terrifying chaos’ of day

It had been a normal April day at Ysgol Dyffryn Aman until the Carmarthenshire school playground was suddenly thrown into chaos.

“I saw a girl take out a knife. Everyone was running, everyone was screaming. It was so scary,” one pupil recalls.

Shouting “I’m going to kill you”, a teenager had stabbed teachers Fiona Elias and Liz Hopkin, as well as a fellow pupil at the secondary school in Ammanford.

The 14-year-old girl, who cannot be named due to her age, has now been found guilty of attempted murder.

The teenager previously admitted stabbing three people and of having a knife in school, but denied attempted murder.

It is a day that many pupils at the school, and their parents, will never forget.

Lacey, 12, was outside at the time of the stabbing and saw the incident unfolding.

“It all started when I was on the playground at school,” she said.

“There was a group of people with their phones out, filming something. I thought it was probably some pupils having a silly fight.

“But I saw a girl with a knife.”

Swansea Crown Court heard how the teenager stabbed Ms Elias first as she shouted “I’m going to kill you”, before attacking Ms Hopkin, and then running towards a pupil with a knife and stabbing her too.

“Everyone was running, everyone was screaming,” Lacey added.

“Another teacher came running, shouting ‘Get back to class now!’.

“In that moment, I felt like I was going to faint. I was so traumatised.

“I ran to the nearest classroom I could find and I was on my own. I felt like someone was behind me, chasing after me. It was so scary.”

Lacey’s father, Christopher, said parents struggled to contact their children.

“The news started breaking that there were police at the school… ambulances… that a pupil had stabbed another pupil and teachers,” he said.

“Obviously, nobody could get in contact with the school.

“My heart just sunk in fear that something had happened to my daughter because we just didn’t know.”

Another pupil, Osian, 16, who has since left the school to go to college, said he would never forget the day of the attacks.

He saw a part of the incident and was kept in lockdown for four hours as the school’s emergency plans kicked in while police investigated.

“It was scary, knowing that we couldn’t even go to the toilet without a teacher being there to make sure we were safe,” he said.

“There were a lot of rumours going around. Unfortunately for me, I was one of the people who was there and saw some of what happened.

“I’m going to remember that day for the rest of my life. It was terrifying. It was chaos.”

A Freedom of Information request by BBC Wales has suggested children as young as Year 2 – aged six and seven – have been found with a blade on school premises during the past five full academic years in Wales.

In Carmarthenshire, it has been recorded that three teenage pupils had a blade in school in the two months following the incident at Ysgol Dyffryn Aman, and two of those incidents involved a multi-tool knife.

Gwynedd’s council recorded six incidents of blades brought to school in 2023-24, with five relating to self-harm.

Meanwhile, a pupil was arrested and charged after an incident involving a blade at a secondary school in Powys in 2024.

Vale of Glamorgan council said a teacher was threatened by a Year 9 pupil with a sharp object in 2022.

The majority of local authorities in Wales said they did not hold information relating to our Freedom of Information request.

Teachers’ union UCAC said there was fear among teachers across Wales about bad behaviour and violence.

“To take extra steps, to screen, to provide extra security in schools, there might come a time that we need to look at that, but we need to consider then who’s responsible for it,” said secretary general Ioan Rhys Jones.

“Unless investment is put into the education system, we might well be following in the footsteps of some of the cities in the United States.”

Plaid Cymru Senedd member – and ex-pupil of Ysgol Dyffryn Aman – Adam Price, also called for action on school safety from the Welsh government.

“I’ve been frustrated so far with the government’s response,” he said.

“Of course, it can happen anywhere, and anytime. That’s why I think we need to have a full scale national review of school safety.”

The Welsh government said: “Our thoughts are with everyone affected by this case. Any form of violence or abuse against staff in our schools is completely unacceptable.

“Schools can take immediate and permanent action to expel any pupil in possession of a weapon, and schools have an existing power to search for weapons.”

It added the cabinet secretary for education took the issue of school safety “incredibly seriously” and a National Behaviour Summit was planned for the spring.