‘Boy’s evil knife attack could have killed my daughter but he walked free from court’

The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, waited for the victim to enter the shop as he watched her from a nearby car park.

He then followed her inside and stabbed her multiple times in a prolonged attack.

Det Supt Ian Fletcher said of CCTV of the attack: “Anyone who sees footage would say she is very lucky to not have very serious, if not fatal injuries.”

He likened the attack to the award-winning TV drama Adolescence, in which a teenager fatally stabs his female classmate.

The mother added: “If you’re big enough to commit an adult crime, you should have the punishment, regardless of your age. It was not a petty crime – it wasn’t petty theft.”

She told the BBC that the family remained “scared” after the boy’s “evil and sick” attack.

She added that his age should not have spared him from a youth detention centre.

“I feel angry. We’re incredibly let down; we feel like everyone’s failed us,” she said.

“It’s disgusting. It’s absolutely disgraceful after watching [footage of the attack] that someone can say the guidelines are ‘first offence and the injuries weren’t life-threatening’.

“They weren’t life-threatening because she managed to defend herself.

“I want some justice for my child – I want some protection.”