A 14-year-old girl was so afraid of being stabbed by bullies she took a knife to school to protect herself.

The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was sentenced to a nine-month community order at Croydon Youth Court after her horrified mother reported her to the police when she realised the knife was missing from her home.

The girl told the Croydon Guardian she took the knife to school after she was beaten up by a gang of girls in March, who locked her in the school toilets.

She said: “I wanted to protect myself, these girls were telling me they were going to stab me.

“I was worried I was going to get cut.”

The bullying began when she broke off her friendship with another girl.

For the past 18 months she has received threatening messages on her mobile and through Facebook.

On April 19, a group of girls turned up at her home and threatened to beat her up.

One of them called her and taunted her while the gang threw bricks through the windows.

The mother of the teenager said: “One of the girls was saying ‘If your daughter does not come out and fight me, I will brick your windows three times’. I thought they had knives.”

She escaped the house with her three daughters, the youngest just 18 months old, and drove away, waiting until the bullies left.

While the girls, aged between 14 and 15, were throwing bricks through the windows, one of the group called the victim. The bullied girl recorded the call.

In it another girl is screaming down the phone at her, telling her to come out of the house and saying: “I am going to brick your flat. I am going to **** you up.”

The mother, whose daughter has been too afraid to return to school since the incident, said: “My daughter is no angel but this has got to stop. I want to send a message to these young girls that violence is not the answer. Something needs to be done about this or another teenager may end up dead.

“The school is not taking any action on this. It just sends work home for my daughter. It is unfair she is missing out on an education while the bullies are still at school.”

A police spokeswoman said they were called on April 19, to reports of criminal damage at a home.

She said: “Police attended the scene and found several windows smashed.

“A 15-year-old girl was arrested in connection with the incident on April 20. She has been bailed until May 17, pending further inquiries.”