THE 14-year-old pupil of Dixons Kings Academy, Bradford, who stabbed a Nigerian science teacher, Vincent Uzomah, in the stomach at the beginning of the subject on June 11 when asked to bring his phone, is to be sentenced next month for causing the 50-year-old man “a grievous bodily harm.”

The pupil, who cannot be named for legal reasons because he’s a child, admitted knifing Uzomah during his 11-minute appearance at Monday’s hearing at the Bradford Crown Court, but denied attempted murder.

An official of the court, who spoke with The Guardian after the hearing, said: “It (sentencing) is potentially the 10th of August but the judge has said it is yet to be confirmed when she was asked of the sentencing date.”

Watched by two members of his family from the public gallery and sandwiched between two security guards, the pupil wore a grey shirt and black jacket on top of blue jeans and apart from answering “yes sir” to confirm his name, spent most of the remaining period of the hearing with his head bowed.

Reserving the judgment till early August to allow both psychiatric and pre-sentencing reports to be compiled, Judge Durham Hall described the teenager as “undoubtedly a very troubled young man,” and then thanked him for not wasting court’s time with his early plea.

Hall, who also noted that “this is a very troubling case,” told the boy: “Your plea has been noted, very proper, at a very early stage” and he then said “thank you,” to the pupil as the security guards led him away.

Hall also gave reasons for agreeing with Crown prosecutors not to press for the initial charge of “attempted murder” because it would be very difficult to prove that the pupil had the intention of killing the University of Leeds’ Civil Engineering graduate father of two.

Uzomah, who had since been released from hospital a few days after the attack, was not in court during Monday’s hearing and it’s not clear he would be present on the day of the judgment next month.

The judge, who described the part-time actor as “a very brave and compassionate victim, said: “The 50-year old man, who had appeared as an extra on two famous British soaps, Coronation Street and Emmerdale, was described by his casting agency as “a very nice, reliable and bubbly guy.”

Last week Tuesday was the first time the teacher spoke about the incident when he released a statement through the police thanking God and the NHS – National Health Service – for