Police in Co Derry were last night investigating two attacks outside schools in Dungiven and Limavady. George Jackson reports.
In the first, outside St Patrick's High School, Dungiven, a man in his late teens or early 20s armed with a knife attacked a 15-year-old schoolboy.
The attacker, who did not use his knife, punched the youth several times on the face, cutting him about the nose and face. He was later treated in hospital for his injuries.
Mr Liam Begley, a schoolteacher, said he was alerted to the incident when other pupils ran back into the school for help.
"It happened after classes for the day had ended. Our pupil was viciously attacked by a man who is a former pupil of the school, but his injuries are not serious and his attacker did not use the knife he was armed with, otherwise it could have been very serious," Mr Begley said.
"Some of the pupils ran into the school and told me what had happened, but by the time I accompanied them to the scene, the man had fled. The injured student was bleeding and badly shaken, and his father arrived and took him to hospital.
"The police were called and they immediately carried out a search for the attacker".
A PSNI spokesman said they were following a definite line of inquiry into the incident.
Meanwhile, an hour later outside Limavady Technical College, about 10 miles from Dungiven, a young woman was assaulted by a man in a separate incident in a car-park outside the college.
The PSNI spokesman said the incidents were not connected and a search was also continuing in Limavady for the assailant.