A teenage girl from Hatfield has faced court after taking a knife into a secondary school.

The Hatfield youth, who cannot be named for legal reasons, admitted taking the knife into school on January 4.

St Albans Youth Court referred the defendant to Hertfordshire Youth Offender Panel for a nine-month contract.

She was ordered to pay victim services £20 and the knife was taken away to be destroyed.

Following the incident, the school’s chairman of the governors has spoken about the measures the school takes to steer young people away from crime.

He told the Welwyn Hatfield Times: “We had a whole series of assemblies talking about knife crime and we continue to do that.

“It’s a continuous rolling programme about knife crime, drugs and gang crime.

“To my knowledge, this is the first ever incident of its nature. It’s a one-off.

“Safeguarding is a continual issue, particularly in today’s climate when you read about it in the papers and hear about it happening in London.”

He added: “Bringing any form of weapon into the school is just not acceptable and is dealt with severely.”

The Welwyn Hatfield Times has not named the school for legal reasons.