'I have struggled to understand why you did what you did': 16-year-old boy stabbed girl in the leg on the doorstep of his Leeds family home in 'unexplained' knife attack

The 16-year-old victim had to undergo surgery and spent five days in hospital following the attack.

Leeds Crown Court heard the teenage attacker, who cannot be identified, washed blood off the doorstep and then put the weapon in the dishwasher at his family home after the incident.

A judge described the attack, which took place on September 12, 2019, as "concerning" as there appeared to be no clear explanation for it.

The court heard the defendant and the victim had been friends for a long time and she saw him as a "little brother."

Two days before the incident he contacted her on social media inviting her to his home.

"She replied that she did not see him in this way, but agreed to visit anyway as friends."

The boy was at home with a male friend on the morning of the attack and appeared to be "annoyed".

The girl arrived at the house in the afternoon and the defendant's friend answered the door.

The defendant then appeared behind him with a knife and made a 'slicing' movement at the girl, who flinched and avoided the strike.

He lunged forward again and the knife went into her leg, around the knee area.

He swore at her as he inflicted the wound

The girl left the garden bleeding heavily as a woman she knew drove by before stopping to take her home.

The woman applied a tourniquet to the victim's leg and called an ambulance.

Police arrested the defendant in the street around two hours after the incident.

His friend told police that he had tried to wash blood from the doorstep.

A knife fitting the description of the one the defendant had used was found in the dishwasher in his house.

In March 2020, he messaged a mutual friend who asked him about the incident and he appeared to accept what he had done.

He pleaded guilty to wounding with intent.

The boy has no previous convictions.

Denise Breen-Lawton, mitigating, said the defendant, now aged 17, carried out the attack when he was mixing with "negative influences" and had begun taking drugs.

The barrister said: "While he may look his chronological age, inside he is a terrified little boy."

Ms Breen-Lawton said her client would be vulnerable and likely to be bullied if he was sent to custody.

The defendant was made the subject of a three-year youth rehabilitation order. He must also do 200 hours of unpaid work.

Judge Andrew Stubbs QC said: "I have really struggled to understand why you did what you did that day.

"It remains unexplained why someone like you could do something like that.

"What you did was really serious.

"This remains a significant cause of concern for me because you have never done anything like that before of since.

"You were still a child at the time, yet you committed this very, very serious offence."