There were ‘missed opportunities’ to save a teacher who was murdered in her classroom by a teenager ‘obsessed with Quentin Tarantino movies’, a jury has ruled.
Anne Maguire, 61, was stabbed to death by 15-year-old Will Cornick at Corpus Christi Catholic College, in Leeds, in April 2104.
The child killer showed friends a ‘vicious-looking knife’ and boasted ‘Mrs Maguire will die’ before staring blankly at the 61-year-old through the window as she lay dying.
A jury at Wakefield Coroner’s Court returned a conclusion of unlawful killing today.
Ann Maguire was repeatedly stabbed by Will Cornick in the first murder in a British classroom
Mrs Maguire’s sisters Denise Maguire (left) and Shelagh Connor (right) spoke after her inquest
In her final moments, as paramedics rushed to the scene, her colleague Susan Francis stroked and kissed the mother-of-two, who had given 41 years’ service to the school.
GCSE student Cornick had told others ‘precisely’ what he was going to do and had written about killing the teacher numerous times on Facebook.
In a chemistry class an hour before the attack the student showed friends the ‘vicious-looking’ knife and said: ‘Mrs Maguire will die.’
In the same lesson he told a fellow pupil to film his pre-planned assault on the teacher on a mobile phone.
Cornick, who played the violent video game Assassins Creed and was obsessed with Quentin Tarantino’s ‘killing spree movie’ Pulp Fiction, held a grudge against Mrs Maguire, the inquest heard.
The attack was the first time a teacher had been murdered in a British classroom.
Anne Maguire’s husband Donald, left, and daughter Kerry, right, arriving at her inquest this week
Corpus Christi’s headteacher Steve Mort spoke after the jury at Wakefield Coroner’s Court returned a conclusion of unlawful killing
Coroner Kevin McLoughlin said he now wanted Facebook and other social media companies to introduce contracts to make parents responsible for their children’s messaging.
Mr McLoughlin said he will write to the digital minister Matthew Hancock to suggest social media platforms require any 13 to 18-year-olds have a named parent on their application to open an account.
He said parents should have the right to monitor their children’s activity.
Mr McLoughlin said: ‘Any parent’s responsibility transcends any teenager’s entitlement to privacy.’
The coroner’s remarks follow the evidence that Cornick exchanged a series of Facebook messages with a friend outlining his hatred for Mrs Maguire and his plans to harm her.
The jury added: ‘Overall communication leading up to the incident was inadequate.
‘There were missed opportunities to share and record problem behaviour. ‘
It also said: ‘The safeguarding policy was not followed as no ’cause for concern’ was recorded around the pupil’s use of alcohol.’