Boy Sentenced of Life for Murder of Ann Maguire
The boy had previously admitted murdering Ann Maguire, 61, in her classroom at Corpus Christi Catholic college on 28 April. Her family were in Leeds crown court to hear his guilty plea. The youngster was 15 and studying for his GCSEs at the time of the attack, the court had heard.
The minimum sentence for the crime is usually 12 years but the judge said he was increasing that because of seven aggravating features including the fact that it was premeditated, committed in public, in front of children and witnesses who were traumatised, and that Maguire had died in extreme pain.
The prosecution showed Facebook messages dating back to Christmas showing his intention and revealed that on the morning of the stabbing, he told classmates he planned to kill Mrs Maguire and two other teachers, including a pregnant woman so as to kill her unborn child.
The court heard that Maguire was a Spanish teacher. The boy, whose parents had sat with him in the dock at Leeds crown court as he admitted the killing, was a model pupil in year 7, was amicable, and enthusiastic but changed after being diagnosed with diabetes. The diabetes had a major impact on his mood and personality. His mother noticed evidence of self-harming. He was upset that his diabetes would prevent him from joining the army. He started to harbour a hatred for Ann Maguire, the court heard.
The boy told one friend he planned to kill two other teachers as well as Maguire and one was young and pregnant.
Mrs Maguire had been leaning over looking at a pupil’s work when he attacked her from behind with a kitchen knife, stabbing her in the neck and back.
After stabbing the teacher and chasing her out of the classroom the boy calmly returned to his desk and, according to witnesses, said, “Pity she didn’t die.”
Susan Francis, a colleague of Maguire’s, heard screaming. She rushed into the corridor and was confronted by pupils running, screaming. Maguire was holding her neck and said, “He’s stabbed me in the neck.” The boy followed her.
Francis pushed Maguire into another classroom and held her foot against the door to stop the boy entering. She could see his emotionless face through the door window. Francis sat with Maguire comforting her and telling her she was loved.
After the attack Maguire was taken by ambulance to Leeds General Infirmary but died around an hour after being admitted.
A postmortem established the cause of death as shock and haemorrhage. Brian Roger, pathologist, said,” Although there were a number of stab wounds, a stab wound to her neck had severed her jugular vein and was the fatal injury.”
Maguire, originally from Wigan, had taught at Corpus Christi for more than 40 years after arriving as a student teacher. She was described as the mother of the school and had taught thousands of students during her career, many of whom left flowers and tributes at the school gates after her murder. Some were written in Spanish, the language she had taught for so long.
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