A SCHOOLBOY threatened to stab another pupil with a knife after they were involved in a playground fight, a court heard yesterday.

A teacher was forced to wrestle the 13-year-old boy to the ground when he came into the school playground wielding a craft knife, after a fight with another pupil was broken up.

Darlington Youth Court heard how the boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, went back into school to collect the knife, which he was given by a fellow pupil from an art set, and said of his rival: "I'm going to stab him."

Derek Walton, prosecuting, said a teacher saw the fight and split the two boys up.

Mr Walton said: "The defendant walked away from the area, and came back with an aggressive manner, carrying something that transpired to be a craft knife.

"Several children in the playground were frightened by his behaviour."

Graeme Hunsley, mitigating, said the boy had not gone to school with the knife, and had hidden it in school after being given it by another pupil.

"He accepts his temper got the better of him on this particular day, and he came down to earth with a bump when he was arrested," he said.

The boy pleaded guilty to affray.

Magistrates told him he was "stupid" that morning, and gave him a four-month referral order, and ordered him to forfeit and destroy the knife.