Teen pleads guilty to slashing 2 school staff with penknife over confiscated phone in 2025

SINGAPORE — Distraught at having her phone confiscated, a teenager at a secondary school hurt herself with a penknife before slashing two staff members.

The device had been taken from the student as she was late for school and she got upset when they refused to return it to her.

On Jan 23, the teenager — now 17 — pleaded guilty to one charge of voluntarily causing hurt with a dangerous weapon.

A second similar charge will be taken into consideration when she is sentenced on March 4.

She cannot be identified as she was 16 at the time of the offences, and is protected under the Children and Young Persons Act.

The court heard the girl had been late for school on April 28, 2025.

When she arrived, she was met by the school's operations manager who confiscated her mobile phone before sending her to class.

During a break between lessons at 12.20pm, the girl looked for him outside the general office to ask if she could have her phone back but he refused.

The teenager pulled out a penknife, hurt herself with it, before slashing the man on his left arm.

He called for the discipline master, who confronted the girl but she also slashed his arm.

She was disarmed by another school staff and told that the police had been called. Instead of waiting at the scene, she went home, where she was arrested.

Those convicted of voluntarily causing hurt with a dangerous weapon can be jailed for up to seven years, fined, or both.

[[nid:728433]]

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.