Cops have vowed to take action against violent pupils after seizing dozens of illegal weapons from schoolchildren aged as young as 10 – including BB guns, knuckle dusters and CS gas, it has been revealed.
A Freedom of Information (FOI) request revealed details of the haul, which included 67 total offenders between 2011 to 2015.
Weapons consisted of knives, BB guns, a metal bar, razor, knuckle-duster, dart, screwdriver, saw and CS gas.
Out of the offenders, three were aged 11, 16 aged 12, 24 aged 13, 11 aged 14 and 12 aged 15.
Another FOI request showed 26 pupils had been charged with attacking teachers – with one case revealing a teacher had been attacked with a bat.
Superintendent Colin McFarlane, of South Yorkshire Police, said: “It is unacceptable that any individual, regardless of their age, is carrying a weapon or worse, using a weapon to cause harm to another person.
“We will take robust action against any individual who is engaging in violent crime or carrying a weapon, and we work closely with schools across South Yorkshire to address any emerging issues and to help educate our young people about the dangers of carrying weapons.”
The Freedom of Information figures also reveal there were 160 attacks and racially or aggravated assaults on teachers in five years.
The breakdown of police figures reveal 99 incidents involved pupils who punched teachers, 33 children who kicked them and 15 who headbutted them.
Five incidents involved pupils biting teachers, three involved furniture being hurled at them and one attack involved a wooden bat.
The attacks on teachers resulted in 26 pupils being charged with offences and 29 receiving police cautions.
Others were dealt with under the restorative justice scheme, where victims agree for offenders to be dealt with in the community to avoid them receiving official police records.
However three primary school pupils avoided action because they were under the age of criminal responsibility.
