Fourteen-year-old admits to killing classmate

A 14-year-old boy has admitted to stabbing to death his classmate aged 13, outside a school in the north Moravian village of Hanusovice. It is not clear what motivated his actions, but there is speculation that bullying may have been behind the attack. Jan Petrek bled to death minutes after being stabbed in the chest and throat during a fight near his school on Monday morning. Czechs have been alarmed by a growing number of violent crimes committed by minors in recent months.

In January a 13 year old schoolgirl was raped and stabbed to death by a classmate and recently five boys under the age of fifteen stabbed a woman in her 80s to death with a pair of scissors, stealing her money. Justice Minister Pavel Nemec has said he will speed up moves in Parliament to lower the age of criminal responsibility, now set at fifteen.