Boy, 14, gets maximum referral order for shop stabbing

A 14-year-old boy has been sentenced to a 12-month referral order, the maximum available, after stabbing a 14-year-old girl repeatedly in a Cirencester shop after she rejected his advances. The boy, from Wiltshire, was sentenced at Bristol Crown Court, sitting as a youth court, on September 21. He had pleaded guilty to wounding with intent, inflicting grievous bodily harm without intent, and possession of a bladed article in a public place. The court also imposed a three-year restraining order. Police said the boy became obsessed with the girl after she turned down his advances in December 2025 and began using fake social media accounts to message her. On March 15, he waited near a shop on Upper Churnside in Cirencester and followed her inside with a kitchen knife concealed in his jeans, police said. He grabbed her and struck her repeatedly. A shopkeeper who tried to pull him away was cut in the back. The girl escaped from the shop and sought help at a neighbouring property. She suffered cuts to her neck, hands and face, along with bruising to her back. Police found the boy nearby with the knife still in his pocket.