DPP to review student stabbing acquittal

The NSW DPP will review the case of a teenage boy acquitted of a stabbing because his teacher failed to warn him of his legal rights.

NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell said he was "bewildered and angry" that the judge had acquitted the boy at his Queanbeyan trial two weeks ago.

"It sends the worst possible signal, not just to teachers in the classroom, but the wider community about the reporting of crime," he said on Thursday.

The 14-year-old boy told his history teacher and year adviser that he had stabbed a service station attendant during a robbery, but the police "have nothing on me", The Daily Telegraph reported.

After telling the principal, the teacher made a statement to police, which became crucial to the prosecution's case.

But the boy's lawyers successfully argued their client had not been given a prior warning by the teacher that he could report any admissions of a crime.

The teacher had breached the boy's trust, the lawyers said, and the District Court judge agreed the evidence should not be admissible.

NSW Attorney-General Greg Smith said he had asked the Director of Public Prosecutions to review the case.

Mr Smith said the DPP could launch an appeal to clarify the law.

"Not every judge makes the correct decision every time," Mr Smith told reporters in Sydney on Thursday.

"I've asked the DPP to look at (this matter) from the point of view of an appeal (which) would only clarify the law.

"If we can't succeed that way, I've asked my department and I'm looking at it myself, the question of clarifying the laws on those matters."

The NSW Teachers Federation says the ruling could change how teachers relate to their students.

But Mr Smith said teachers should not be discouraged from reporting criminal offences to police.

"I personally think they do what this teacher did - they just proceed doing the right thing," he said.

"If somebody makes admissions to them of a serious offence, they report it.

"We will be certainly looking at this because it needs to be made much clearer, so that there can be clearer guidelines put out to teachers in the light of these matters."

Mr O'Farrell said he would have thought it would have been a crime to withhold information from the police.

"We can't operate on a basis which says, 'I've been told something but if I pass it on I might be found to be in breach of the court'."

"We expect all citizens to cooperate with police, report illegalities," he said.

"Forget whether it's the law or not, it's the way in which society operates."