Labour’s VAWG plan going well then! 🙄 A 14-year-old boy repeatedly stabbed a girl who rejected his advances, using a SIX-INCH kitchen knife. He stabbed her at least TEN TIMES. A shopkeeper who tried to intervene was also stabbed. The attack was premeditated. The judge acknowledged how terrifying and dangerous it had been. And the sentence? A 12-month referral order and a three-year restraining order. No further custody. Judge Ian Lawrie KC reportedly told him: “You’re a bright lad” and “keep out of mischief.” Mischief?! As though he'd been caught nicking a few apples off somebody's tree, rather than chasing a terrified girl through a shop and repeatedly stabbing her because she dared to say NO! The judge also said custody was the last place he should be... What about the girl? Her trauma? Her safety? Her right to reject a boy without fearing for her life? Of course young offenders need rehabilitation. But surely that cannot come at the expense of meaningful accountability for such extreme violence. Labour promises to halve violence against women and girls within a decade. How can we expect girls to believe that violence against them is taken seriously when this is how an attempted rejection-fuelled attempted killing is dealt with? Her mother called the sentence “disgraceful.” I can certainly understand why. A girl's life is worth more than a boy's promising future. archive.ph/OA7SQ