Teacher’s murder ‘could not have been predicted’
Victim ‘ambushed’ by 15-year-old ‘didn’t stand a chance’ as he stabbed her seven times
A PUPIL stabbed Leeds teacher Ann Maguire to death in a “completely irrational act stemming from a deep-seated grudge”, a senior detective told the inquest into her death.
Detective Superintendent Nick Wallen yesterday said the 61-year-old “stood absolutely no chance whatsoever” when she was attacked in her classroom by teenager Will Cornick at Corpus Christi Catholic College.
Giving evidence on the first day of the inquest, Mr Wallen said that Cornick had told at least ten other children what he was going to do to Mrs Maguire on the morning of April 28, 2014 – but they did not tell staff.
He went on to describe to the jury at Wakefield Coroner’s Court how the slight and petite teacher was “ambushed” by a “strapping 15-year-old lad” that day.
The inquest heard Cornick had brought in a kitchen knife from home and used this to stab Mrs Maguire seven times, with one blow cutting her jugular vein.
Mr Wallen said: “Nobody in the classroom saw this coming. I would say she stood absolutely no chance whatsoever.”
The detective said none of the teenagers who Cornick spoke to on that day should be blamed for what happened, before explaining that he had instructed his detectives not to ask why they did not report the comments.
He told the jury: “It would be wholly wrong to sit here and raise that perhaps all this could have been avoided if a 15-year-old boy had told the teacher.”
The officer said: “[Cornick] was a young man who was prone to say things that weren’t true. That’s the reason that, on the day, most people who Will spoke to thought ‘That’s just Will, that’s what he does’.”
Jurors heard about a number of Facebook messages written by Cornick, including one in which he told a friend that he would give him “a tenner” to kill Mrs Maguire in the months before he stabbed her to death.
The inquest also heard how another boy had been arrested as part of the murder investigation.
However, police decided there was no conspiracy because the other child did not take Cornick’s threats seriously.
Mr Wallen said that the attack carried out by Cornick could not have been predicted, despite the Facebook messages expressing his hatred for the teacher and how he wanted to kill her.
He dismissed any suggestion that a fall-out with Mrs Maguire over a detention and her refusal to let him drop Spanish explained what he went on to do.
The detective told the court: “We spoke to his teachers and his parents and at no time did we have the impression of a disruptive, violent, angry individual who there was any sense was about to explode in a frenzy of violence such as this.”
He added: “I absolutely am of the view that there is one person responsible for Ann Maguire’s death – that is William Cornick.”
Jurors also heard from Mrs Maguire’s widower, who said the idea that her killer had an “irrational and historical hatred” of his late wife “seems as strange now as it did then”.
Don Maguire told jurors that he could not come to terms with the prevailing “narrative” that there was “no explanation and no logic” to Will Cornick’s actions.
He criticised the quality of the Learning Lessons Review published by Leeds Safeguarding Children Board following the tragedy, saying there should have been a full Serious Case Review.
He told the jury that he had been faced with a situation where there was no trial, no inquest, and no Serious Case Review because Cornick had admitted his guilt.
Mr Maguire said he knew the reasons behind what Cornick did were complex, but they needed to be examined thoroughly.
Recalling how he rushed to the hospital after the attack, Mr Maguire said: “As I walked through the door, I knew. Not one set of eyes looked in my direction.
“I was told I could hold her hand. Her hand was quite cold.”
Cornick was jailed for life and ordered to spend at least 20 years in custody.
The inquest is scheduled to last for up to two weeks.
I would say she stood absolutely no chance whatsoever. Detective Superintendent Nick Wallen, of West Yorkshire Police, on Ann Maguire.