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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Christina Edkins stabbing: Phillip Simelane admits manslaughter | Christina Edkins stabbing: Phillip Simelane admits manslaughter |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A 23-year-old man has admitted killing schoolgirl Christina Edkins on a rush-hour bus in Birmingham city centre. | A 23-year-old man has admitted killing schoolgirl Christina Edkins on a rush-hour bus in Birmingham city centre. |
| Sixteen-year-old Christina was fatally stabbed while on her way to school on 7 March. | Sixteen-year-old Christina was fatally stabbed while on her way to school on 7 March. |
| Phillip Simelane, from Walsall, pleaded guilty to manslaughter at a hearing in Birmingham Crown Court. | Phillip Simelane, from Walsall, pleaded guilty to manslaughter at a hearing in Birmingham Crown Court. |
| Three months before the attack he had been released from prison unsupervised, despite warning signs over the state of his mental health. | Three months before the attack he had been released from prison unsupervised, despite warning signs over the state of his mental health. |
| Christina was travelling to Leasowes High School in Halesowen when unemployed and homeless Simelane stabbed her in what has been described as a random attack. | |
| Manhunt | Manhunt |
| He was sitting behind the teenager on the upper deck of the Number 9 bus and stabbed her in the chest as he walked past to get off. | |
| A post-mortem examination found she died from a single stab wound. | A post-mortem examination found she died from a single stab wound. |
| Simelane was arrested just hours after the attack following an extensive manhunt. | Simelane was arrested just hours after the attack following an extensive manhunt. |
| He had previously been in prison for threatening his own mother with a knife. | |
| West Midlands Police said they had been called to his mother's address in Walsall about 20 times. | |
| He was later convicted for interfering with a vehicle and possession of cocaine before released from jail on December 13, 2012. | |
| But, according to the police, because the crimes were deemed to be minor offences there was no policy to monitor Simelane after he left jail. | |
| Memorial garden | |
| At Birmingham Crown Court, Simelane, wearing a grey suit, white shirt and blue tie, entered his plea in front of several members of Christina's family. | |
| Prosecutor Peter Grieves-Smith said CCTV captured Simelane carrying a white plastic bag containing what prosecutors said was a knife, 10 to 12 inches in length. | |
| "Christina Edkins boarded just after 7.30am and went upstairs and sat on her own," he said. | |
| "Within seconds the defendant got up and moved forwards three seats and pulled out the knife, which he then hid." | |
| Simelane then got up and walked forward towards where Christina was sitting, "leant closer to her", stabbed her and started to walk off, the court heard. | |
| "Such was the nature of the attack, nobody else on the upper deck realised what had happened until Christina reacted," Mr Grieves-Smith said. | |
| Following her death friends gathered by Hagley Road in Birmingham to lay flowers in Christina's memory, while many more were left outside her school's gates. | Following her death friends gathered by Hagley Road in Birmingham to lay flowers in Christina's memory, while many more were left outside her school's gates. |
| A memorial garden dedicated to Christina is due to be opened at her former school on Thursday. | A memorial garden dedicated to Christina is due to be opened at her former school on Thursday. |