A 15-year-old girl sentenced to 15 years for attempting to murder three people at a school in Ammanford, Carmarthenshire, had been considered for referral to the Prevent counter-extremism programme due to her fascination with Adolf Hitler, a new report has revealed.
The multi-agency report, commissioned by Carmarthenshire County Council and the Mid and West Wales Safeguarding Board, found that while authorities held significant information about the girl's behaviour in the two years before the attack, it was not shared effectively between agencies. The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had unusual interests in war memorabilia, Hitler, and weapons, and claimed to speak German and Russian.
She had previously taken a ball bearing gun to school, threatened a child with a knife, and was suspended for bringing a blade to school a year before the April 2024 attack. After the first knife incident, a referral to Prevent was discussed but deemed unnecessary as she did not meet the threshold. Instead, an early help assessment was offered but declined by her father, who agreed to carry out daily bag checks.
The report also noted that teachers at Ysgol Dyffryn Aman were unaware of the girl's history, and pupils knew she had a knife on the day of the attack but did not inform staff. The review author, Gladys Rhodes White, concluded that while no single agency could have foreseen the attack, better information sharing and support for children who do not meet Prevent criteria are needed.
The girl was found guilty of three counts of attempted murder at Swansea Crown Court in April 2025. She told police after her arrest: "That's one way to be a celebrity." She will be eligible for release on licence after serving half her sentence.
