Sixteen-year-old boy sentenced for stabbing and sexually assaulting teenage girls in a spate of random attacks

A sixteen-year-old boy has been sentenced for stabbing and sexually assaulting teenage girls in a spate of random attacks in Croydon.

The boy has been linked to four incidents between November 2019 to October 2020 where schoolgirls were sexually assaulted or assaulted as they walked to school.

He was sentenced at Croydon Crown Court on Friday to a total of four-and-a-half years in custody and three years on license.

He had previously pleaded guilty on Monday, April 12, to two counts of causing grievous bodily harm, four counts of sexual assault, one count of assault by penetration, and one count of common assault.

One of the girls was approached on Moffat Road, Croydon, last year just before 9am on November 4.

The boy, who was a stranger to her, left her stabbed her in the leg and she was taken to hospital for treatment and later discharged.

Two days later, at 8.23am cops were called to St Paul’s Road, to similar reports of another injured girl.

The 15-year-old girl had been approached by a stranger and stabbed in the arm.

The victims went to separate schools and it is not thought they were known to each other.

Officers from the South Area Command Unit launched an investigation.

The boy was arrested at his residential address in Thornton Heath in the early hours of 8 November 2020.

Detective Sergeant Sarah Barrett, who led the investigation, said: “These attacks were random, and completely unprovoked.

“The actions of this teenager left not only his victims, but the wider community, scared and concerned for their daughters.

“It remains unclear why he carried out these attacks.

“I would again like to take this opportunity to praise the girls who came forward and helped us with our investigation.”