A TERRIFIED 12-year-old today relived the horror of being stabbed on a bus and said: "I thought I was going to die."

The schoolboy was wounded just centimetres from a main artery in his right leg as he made his way home from St Bede's High School, Blackburn.

He is now too frightened to be identified and his mother has now appealed to children to think about the dangers of carrying knives. The 12-year-old, from Blackburn, was on the outer circular bus on the way back from his school, in Livesey Branch Road when the incident happened, at around 4pm on Thursday.

He said a 15-year-old boy sat next to him and started playing with a knife by stabbing the seat. Then for no reason he was stabbed in the right leg causing deep wounds, needing 10 stitches.

A teenager was arrested by police and cautioned after telling officers the incident was an accident.

Detective Inspector Neil Hunter said: "He was given a final warning. Basically, if he does anything else he will go to the courts."

But the boy's parents are outraged that he has not been punished and are now appealing for witnesses of the incident to speak up.

According to the victim, the bus was stationary at a stop when the incident occurred.

He was taken to hospital after staff from nearby Longshaw nursing home phoned for an ambulance.

The victim said: "He jammed me into a corner next to the window on the back seat of the bus. He had to lean right across my body to stab me in the leg.

"He got off the bus and came with me to the home. I tied my school scarf round it to stop it bleeding.

"There are not many people with knives at school that I know of and no-one thinks he is cool.

"He doesn't pick on people, he is just intimidating."

"How can a child carry a knife?", said the mother. "It just missed his main artery in his leg. If it had been a few centimetres down it could have been death.

"People should think before they put a knife in their school bag. They can be so dangerous. My son wasn't talking to him, but he has plunged it into his leg causing two deep cuts. My son is very shocked and upset." The boy's parents said he was a model student and had received a prize for best improved in English and several football awards.

When the boy's father heard that the teenager had been released, he was furious.

"I feel like the justice system has completely let us down. If the knife had been thrust in his leg twice the situation would apparently be different which is outrageous" he said.

"A 12-year-old boy had to give a statement to the police straight after the incident when he was very shaken. He is remembering things all the time but it is too late."

St Bede's declined to comment but are conducting their own inquiry into the incident.

The mother said: "This is a terrible thing to happen. Our son has always done well at St Bede's."

Michael Morton, managing director of Blackburn Transport, which runs the service, said: "I am aware of the incident and we are investigating."