16-year-old tried to slice open girl, 12, ‘like a pig’

A TEENAGE psychopath has been jailed for life after he tried to murder and “gut like a pig” a 12-year-old girl who had spurned his advances.

Cleland attacked his 12 year old victim with a penknife and attempted to strangle her Cleland attacked his 12-year-old victim with a penknife and attempted to strangle her

The public schoolboy had practised his attack in front of his bedroom mirror before putting on surgical gloves and luring his unsuspecting victim to a secluded lane, a court heard.

There he stabbed her in the throat with a blunt penknife before trying to strangle her to death. The girl was saved when a dog walker stumbled across the scene.

Cold-blooded 16-year-old Cameron Cleland, a pupil at an £11,000-a-year school where he was expected to get A* GCSEs, scoured the internet at his family’s £1.2million home researching ways of killing his young victim before deciding to “gut her like a pig”, Bradford Crown Court heard this week.

Cleland – the son of a top Leeds-based law firm partner – had originally planned to rape the girl but decided that was not punishment enough.

He told psychiatrists – who diagnosed psychopathic tendencies – that he blamed the girl for his plight and was prepared to go to prison for the rest of his life if he succeeded in killing her.

Cleland pleaded guilty to attempted murder. His parents, who were described as “an entirely proper family”, sat in the public gallery as Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC said he must serve a life sentence with a minimum tariff of seven years.

court, jailCleland was jailed for seven years for the 'incalculable' trauma he caused his victim

Prosecutor Michael Smith said that Cleland became infatuated with the girl despite a four-year age gap. She however had repeatedly rebuffed his approaches.

Mr Smith said there were 130 texts between the pair before the girl eventually agreed to meet her attacker on April 21 at a secluded location close to Cleland’s home in Ben Rhydding, West Yorks.

Mr Smith said: “She saw the defendant walking towards her. She describes herself as freaking out. His hoodie was up and she couldn’t see his face clearly. She saw he was wearing surgical gloves. He knocked her to the ground and brought out a red pen knife.”

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Cleland told the girl: “I am going to have to kill you.” He went for her neck and throat with the knife but it was blunt so he then tried to strangle her.

The girl suffered wounds to her upper chest and hands, cuts and grazes to her back and body, bruising to her eyes and red strangulation marks to her neck.

Cleland’s head teacher said he was a highly intelligent pupil though “slightly geeky”.

The boy sat impassively in the dock as the judge said: “You have expressed your regret that you did not kill her. Your victim was distraught, confused and bewildered and the trauma you have caused her is incalculable.”

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