Full Inquest to Be Held into Ann Maguire Death

25 January 2016, 17:22 | Updated: 30 March 2016, 13:50

Ann Maguire

A full inquest will be held into the death of Leeds teacher Ann Maguire, who was stabbed to death in her classroom by one of her pupils, a coroner has ruled.


The family of Mrs Maguire has been pressing for an independent inquiry and inquest into how she was murdered by teenager Will Cornick at Corpus Christi Catholic College, in Leeds, in 2014.

As Cornick was successfully prosecuted for murder, an inquest would not normally have to be held.

But, on Monday, West Yorkshire Coroner David Hinchliff ruled a full inquest will now take place, his office confirmed.

Mr Hinchliff made the ruling at a hearing in Wakefield but no date has yet to be fixed.

Despite Cornick's conviction, Mrs Maguire's husband, Don, and his family believe the circumstances around how around how his wife was murdered have not been fully investigated.

They launched a crowd funding campaign to raise the cash to pursue their aim of an independent review.

Last year, Mr Maguire said: "We believe that a comprehensive, open and independent statutory review examining all the information is crucial to learning lessons from this horrific incident which took place in front of many other pupils in school, traumatising pupils and staff and devastating our family. We want documents and evidence to be examined in order that steps can be taken to prevent anything like this happening again.''

Mrs Maguire's son, Andrew Poole, said the family was not trying to "point fingers of blame'' but to "construct an accurate version of events and procedures that failed to protect her.''

He said: "But with the criminal case long gone, there remain a growing number of questions and concerns regarding the incident and the lack of any effective subsequent investigation. Whilst we seek answers and clarification on these matters, as yet we have found the avenues of our inquiries carefully protected and safeguarded behind walls of secrecy and authority.''

Spanish teacher Mrs Maguire had worked at Corpus Christi Catholic College, in Leeds, for more than 40 years when she was killed by Cornick, who was 15 years old at the time.

Cornick was given a life sentence with a minimum term of 20 years by a judge who heard how he had shown no remorse for what he had done.

The Leeds Safeguarding Children Board has previously said the case does fulfil the criteria for a serious case review but a review is under way.