A teenager winked and smiled at a fellow pupil just before he stabbed teacher Ann Maguire to death in her classroom, an inquest jury has heard.
Will Cornick, 15 at the time of the murder, killed Ann Maguire, 61, by stabbing her seven times – including one wound that penetrated entirely through her body.
At the inquest into Mrs Maguire’s death today, the jury heard a number of statements from students who attended Corpus Christi school in Leeds, West Yorkshire.
Ann Maguire was stabbed to death by 15-year-old Will Cornick during a Spanish lesson in 2014
The boy he winked at before the stabbing told Wakefield Coroner’s Court that Cornick showed him a large kitchen knife before he killed Mrs Maguire.
In a statement read to the court, the teenager explained that he and Cornick were working in the room next to where Mrs Maguire was just before the incident.
He told police officers how Cornick got a large knife out of his bag and showed it to him.
The boy said Cornick asked ‘if I wanted to touch it to see how sharp it was’.
In his statement, the teenager said Cornick then tried to conceal the knife up his sleeve, but said it was ‘too visible, too obvious’ and changed his mind, putting it in a pocket in his blazer.
The boy said Cornick then left to go into the next door room where Mrs Maguire was teaching some other pupils.
Don and Emma Maguire, the husband and daughter of Mrs Maguire, are attending the inquest
The boy said: ‘He just winked and smiled at me as he left the room.’
The boy said he did not know what happened after that until he heard noises next door.
He said he did not know why he did not immediately report that Cornick had a knife.
The boy said: ‘I was in shock. I did not really know what to do.
‘I know I should have told someone, but in the room I was in there wasn’t any teachers supervising us.’
A sea of flowers were left outside the school after the shocking attack on the popular teacher
The jury has heard how Cornick told a number of children on the morning of the tragedy what he was planning to do to Mrs Maguire and two teachers.
Nick Armstrong, the barrister representing Mrs Maguire’s husband – Don – and their four children, has explained to the jury how one of the key issues for the inquest is why none of these children reported what they had been told.
Cornick, who was 15 years old at the time of the incident, admitted murdering Mrs Maguire. He was jailed for life and ordered to serve a minimum of 20 years in custody.
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