Four girls from the Bradford area have been sentenced for their roles in a social media fuelled street attack in which a girl aged 15 was stabbed in the neck.

A girl aged 16, described as the “ringleader,” had the violence filmed on a phone so that she could “gloat” afterwards, the judge sentencing her said.

She and two girls aged 15 were convicted by a jury at Bradford Crown Court of wounding their victim with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

The two younger girls joined in the attack with fists and feet, the court heard.

A fourth girl, also 15, was found guilty of assisting an offender by filming the violence that took place in January last year.

Prosecutor James Lake said that an implement with a sharp cutting edge, likely to have been a knife, was used to stab the girl in the neck leaving permanent scarring.

In mitigation for the 16-year-old, barrister Chloe Hudson said: “It was a disagreement over social media that escalated out of control.”

The judge, Recorder Tom Little QC, read numerous references in support of the teenager who was doing well at school.

“It is a personal tragedy for both her and her family,” Miss Hudson said.

Helen Chapman, barrister for one of the 15-year-olds, said the welfare of such young defendants had to be at the forefront of the judge’s mind, with the emphasis on rehabilitation.

Shufqat Khan, representing the second attacker aged 15, said it was an impulsive offence and she was very remorseful. She had played a lesser role in the violence.

None of the girls had any previous convictions, the court was told.

Geraldine Kelly said the fourth girl played no active part in the violence.

Recorder Little read references and probation reports in respect of all four girls, who cannot be named because of their ages.

He said all had been convicted of very serious crimes.

The 16-year-old had lived in “a dangerous social media world” where a fight could be filmed so she could “gloat about it” afterwards.

She armed herself with something sharp and stabbed her victim in the neck. The wound could have been fatal if the weapon had damaged blood vessels.

It was a group attack at night in a street in Bradford, he said.

But none of the defendants had committed any offences since and because of their young ages they should be given the opportunity to learn from their mistakes.

The 16-year-old was sentenced to a two-year Youth Rehabilitation Order with intensive supervision and surveillance (ISS), a curfew order and 120 rehabilitation activity days.

The two 15-year-olds convicted of GBH were sentenced to 12 month Youth Rehabilitation Orders with ISS.

The girl who filmed the violence was sentenced to a 12-month Youth Rehabilitation Order.