14-year-old boy in court over teacher stabbing

Dixons Kings Academy in Bradford. Picture: PA

The teenager was arrested after supply teacher Vincent Uzomah, 50, was stabbed in the stomach as he began the lesson at Dixons Kings Academy in Bradford on Thursday.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said he will appear before magistrates in Bradford today.

Martin Goldman, of CPS Yorkshire and Humberside, said: “The Crown Prosecution Service has been working closely with West Yorkshire Police in connection with this case.

“Having carefully considered all of the evidence presented to us, we have concluded that there is sufficient evidence and that it is in the public interest to charge a 14-year-old youth with attempted murder.”

Mr Uzomah, who had been working at the school for a few weeks, was taken to hospital and was last night said to be in a stable, non-life threatening condition with his family by his bedside.

Police were alerted by paramedics who were called to the school at around 8.55am. The incident was witnessed by a number of other children in the class.

The attack led to a six-hour hunt for a pupil who was later arrested in the city centre.

The school is about 15 miles away from Corpus Christi Catholic College in Leeds, where veteran teacher Ann Maguire was stabbed to death by a student just over a year ago.

Dixons Kings Academy - then called the Kings Science Academy - started in 2011 as one of the first free schools in England and was visited by Prime Minister David Cameron in 2012, but it was beset by financial controversy and the former head and other staff members were arrested. Their prosecution is ongoing.

The Dixons Academy Trust, which runs seven other schools in Bradford, took over the school in January.

Children at the school said Mr Uzomah is a kind man and a good teacher.

A spokesman for the Seven Casting agency said Mr Uzomah was a “very nice, reliable, bubbly guy” who was an extra on their books and had worked on soaps including Emmerdale and Coronation Street.