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NSW: Two teens armed with knife charged over school incident

10 Nov 2008 5:54 PM
EDS: Changes ages of alleged offenders on updated police information

SYDNEY, Nov 10 AAP - Two teenagers armed with a knife have been charged with assaulting staff and threatening pupils at a western Sydney school.

Pupils taking HSC exams were arriving at Colyton High School about 9am (AEDT) today when the two boys allegedly entered the school grounds armed with a knife.

The youths, aged 14 and 16, both from the neighbouring suburb of Whalan, allegedly made "numerous threats" to stab people, before being escorted from the school grounds by staff, police said.

"Staff removed the two intruders from the school grounds, outside the school gates, which were then locked," a NSW Department of Education spokeswomansaid in a statement.

No one was injured during the incident, and the boys were arrested a short time later.

The 16-year-old faces a number of charges including assaulting school staff, intimidatingharassing students, having a knife in a public place, affray, and offensive conduct.

The 14-year-old also faces charges of assaulting a school staff member, intimidatingharassing students, affray and offensive conduct.

Both youths have been granted bail and are due to face Parramatta Children's Court on December 2, police said.

Neither boy is believed to be a student at the school, and police could notconfirm if the two were related.

"Students undertaking the HSC were not affected and the offenders had left the school prior to the exam beginning," the education department said.

Counsellors were called to the school to speak with staff and students if needed, and the principal plans to tell guardians of today's incident by sending home a note with pupils.

The education department praised school staff for their handling of the incident.

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