Figures reveal seven stabbings at Bristol schools

Bristol schoolchildren as young as five have stabbed other pupils with pencils, scissors and even a crayon.

There have been seven stabbing incidents at schools in the city since September 2005, according to figures released under the Freedom of Information Act.

One involved a five-year-old stabbing another pupil with a crayon, causing a puncture wound.

Another saw a 10-year-old at a primary school cut a child with a knife.

Three other attacks involved the use of a pencil, one a pen and, in another, a pair of round-nosed scissors.

The children involved in the other incidents were aged five, nine and 13, and in one case the victim was a teacher.

Bristol City Council has refused to say which schools the stabbings took place at and did not know whether the police had been involved, although that is their recommendation to head teachers.

Only children aged 10 and above can be charged with offences. Although the figures are not high, school stabbing incidents have slightly increased in Bristol during the past four years.

While there was only one case of stabbing in each of the school years starting September 2005 and 2006, there were two incidents in the past year and three in the 12 months before that.

The full list of incidents is as follows.

Between September 2008 and October 2009, a child at a junior school stabbed their teacher with a pencil, causing slight bruising.

During the same period, a puncture wound was inflicted on a pupil at a primary school with a pen.

The council says the ages of the children in those two incidents were not recorded.

Between September 2007 and August 2008, there were three stabbings.

One involved a 13-year-old at a secondary school, causing a puncture wound with a pencil.

A nine-year-old at a special school caused the same damage with a pencil and a 10-year-old at a primary school cut a fellow pupil with a knife.

The previous year, a five-year-old at a primary school cut another child with round-nose scissors.

The crayon incident took place in a primary school between September 2005 and August 2006.

Council spokeswoman Julia Walton said: "In Bristol, the number of incidents over the last five years involving any kind of implement is very small, none resulted in serious injuries and only one of these involved a knife.

"Any violent incident in a school is taken very seriously and we recommend that schools inform and involve the police as well as following their own discipline procedures."