Boy, 15, admits string of stabbings and sexual assaults on teenage girls walking to school

Teenager caught after knife attacks on two 15-year-olds in Croydon linked to four other incidents in area

Moffat Road in Croydon, south London, where a schoolgirl was stabbed in the leg by a 15-year-old boy (Google street view)

A 15-year-old boy has been convicted of a string of attacks on teenage girls as they walked to school in south London.

The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to several offences where he either stabbed or sexually assaulted his victims in Croydon over the course of 12 months.

The Metropolitan Police said two of the girls, who went to different schools and were not thought to be known to each other, were stabbed in the arm and leg two days apart in November last year.

Detectives linked the stabbings to four other incidents in the area between November 2019 and October 2020 where teenage girls were approached as they walked to school and sexually assaulted or assaulted.

The boy was arrested at his home in south London in the early hours of 8 November.

He pleaded guilty to two counts of grievous bodily harm (GBH), four counts of sexual assault, one count of assault by penetration and one charge of common assault at Croydon Crown Court on Monday.

A charge of robbery was also left to lie on file.

He was remanded in custody and will appear in court for sentencing on 7 June.

In the most recent attacks, police were called to reports of an injured girl in Moffat Road, Croydon, shortly before 9am on 4 November 2020.

Officers discovered a 15-year-old girl had been approached by a stranger and stabbed in the leg.

Two days later, shortly before 8.30am, police and paramedics were called to St Paul’s Road after a 15-year-old girl was knifed in the arm by a stranger.

Both victims were taken to hospital but their conditions were not life-threatening.

Detective Sergeant Sarah Barrett, who led the investigation, said the victims appeared to have been chosen at random.

She said: “These incidents caused considerable concern to the local community – all the victims were teenage girls, and apparently chosen at random.

“They were making their way to school when they were subjected to needless and completely unprovoked attacks. I am grateful to all of them for their assistance to our investigation.”