A 14-year-old boy was recovering in hospital tonight after he was stabbed in the stomach just yards from his school.
The teenager, the latest casualty of Britain's knife culture, is thought to have been involved in a brief exchange of words with three youths at about 1.20pm at Birmingham's Heartlands High School.
The boy, who has not been named, is in a serious but stable condition, although his injuries are not life-threatening.
The stabbing came just eight days after 15-year-old Kiyan Prince was knifed to death outside the gates of his north London school.
Officers said the latest victim was being comforted by his family at City Hospital after being targeted on an area of grassland outside the technology college in Wardlow Road, Nechells.
The pupil, who has yet to be named, is believed to be Asian and to speak poor English.
His attackers, who are also thought to be of Asian appearance, were said by witnesses to have fled on foot.
Local residents in Howford Grove, which overlooks the grassland, told how they saw two adults who they assumed to be teachers, tending to the wounded youngster.