Intruder's metal bar attack on boy in class

A MAN burst into the classroom of an Edinburgh school and assaulted a 14-year-old boy with a metal bar as pupils and their teacher watched in horror.

An urgent investigation is under way into how the man, described as being in his late-teens or early 20s, was able to carry out the assault in Trinity Academy yesterday afternoon.

The culprit fled the school before the stunned teacher could confront him. The victim, who was rushed to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary in an ambulance, suffered cuts to his head and shoulder injuries in the incident, but was later released after treatment.

Education chiefs at Edinburgh City Council said staff and pupils at the school have been left "shocked" by the incident, which has been described by the authority as "mindless violence."

A spokeswoman for Lothian and Borders Police said officers were following a "positive line of inquiry" into the incident.

She added: "The man involved has not been a pupil at the school but has come into the premises and carried out an assault on a pupil in a classroom before running off. It’s obviously very concerning that something like this has happened in a school."

The city council confirmed a third-year pupil at the school had been assaulted in a class-room but refused to release any further details of the incident because of the police investigation.

Colin Dalrymple, the authority’s deputy education director, said: "Our immediate priority just now is to support the pupil concerned, their family and the rest of the school.

"It's difficult to believe anyone would want to do something like this - especially in a school classroom. Everything happened so quickly there was nothing anyone could do to

stop it. Understandably pupils and the class teacher are very shocked. Guidance staff are providing extra support and the education department has offered any additional help that may be needed.

"The school also phoned round the parents of pupils who were in the class at the time. We’re assisting the police with their enquiries and we’re also now carrying out our own investigation as a matter of urgency."

Councillor Ewan Aitken, Edinburgh’s education leader, added: "This is mindless violence and it must be stamped out.

"Our schools are more than just a place to learn - they must be safe havens for all our young people. What has happened today raises questions but we must not be tempted to turn schools into fortresses.

"Fortunately situations like this are very rare but any incident is one too many - we will take appropriate action and the priority right now is the family and school."

The Cullen Report into the Dunblane massacre in 1996 - when deranged gunman Thomas Hamilton shot dead 16 schoolchildren and a teacher - recommended every school in Scotland develop a safety strategy to identify risks and take steps to minimise the dangers.

But in 1999, the Educational Institute of Scotland said the measures introduced as a result had fallen into disuse in many of the country’s schools.

Trinity Academy’s headteacher, Peter Galloway, could not be contacted by the Evening News.

However Dr Clive Preston, chairman of the school board, said he had spoken to Mr Galloway in the aftermath of the incident.

Dr Preston added: "He was obviously very upset. He is very proud of the school. From what I’ve been told a number of youngsters not connected with the school have come in and a pupil has been assaulted by one of them.

"My understanding is that it stemmed from an argument outwith the school, but I’m obviously very shocked that anyone could gain access to the school so easily."

Trinity councillor Allan Jackson said: "I’m obviously very disturbed to hear about this and security has to be the number one priority in the council’s investigation. This is a good school in a good community and I’ve never heard of anything like this happening before."

The Trinity Academy incident comes less than a week after a 15-year-old girl at Drummond High School in Edinburgh was allegedly stabbed with a chisel in a classroom by a fellow pupil.

And police are still appealing for witnesses following an incident in which a father-of-two was stabbed as he waited for his son outside the gates of St John’s Roman Catholic Primary School, in the city earlier this month.