Pupil must wait for sentence

Durham School sits in the shadow of Durham Cathedral

A pupil who violently attacked a fellow student at a leading public school has been told he must wait until October to be sentenced.

James Slade, 18, admitted causing grievous bodily harm after a vicious assault on a boy at the £14,000-a-year Durham School in County Durham.

The assault happened after a sixth-form party when the victim, who was not a boarder, was staying overnight in a dormitory in one of the school's ancient boarding houses.

He was taken to the University Hospital of North Durham where he underwent emergency surgery to remove his spleen.

Long history

Slade was a boarder at the school at the time of the attack on 6 July but has since finished his studies.

The teenager, from Bushey Heath, Hertfordshire, was due to appear for sentencing at Durham Magistrates Court on Wednesday.

He will now go before Chester-le-Street magistrates on 1 October.

Durham School is one of England's oldest independent schools, dating back to the 15th Century, with the fees for a senior boarder £14,295 a year.

It moved to its present site in Durham City in 1844 and before 1988 was a boys-only school.

Old boys include Gareth Archer, the England international rugby player.