The school where Lilie James was brutally murdered by a fellow sports coach will play no official role in the Coroner’s inquest into the deaths of her and her killer Paul Thijssen.
Water polo coach Ms James, 21, was found dead inside a gymnasium bathroom at St Andrews Cathedral School in the Sydney CBD on October 25 last year after her father James received a text from her phone, asking to be picked up from school late at night.
Police were alerted, and a school staffer let officers into the building at Town Hall Square, where Lilie’s ‘unrecognisable’ body was found, left with serious head injuries’.
Insiders have revealed to Daily Mail Australia that St Andrews Cathedral School principal Dr Julie McGonigle has been told the school will not be considered an ‘interested party’ at the coronial inquiry into the deaths.
Lilie James was murdered a year ago in a bathroom of St Andrews Cathedral School where she worked as a coach along with the man who bludgeoned her to death, Paul Thijssen
The school (gymnasium pictured, where Ms James’ body was found in the adjoining bathroom) has been told it cannot participate in the inquest into her and her killer Paul Thijssen’s deaths
That’s despite teachers and students having intimate knowledge and involvement with Ms James and school hockey coach Thijssen prior to the murder, and school staff having assisted in the discovery of the horrific crime scene.
School principal Dr McGonigle revealed in her latest Head of School Newsletter that ‘at this stage, the State Coroner does not consider St Andrew’s Cathedral School to have sufficient interest in this matter to be considered an interested party, pursuant to the Coroners Act’.
The inquest into the deaths of Lilie Anne James and Paul Thomas Stephan Thijssen will be held over three days from March 18 at the Coroners Court, Lidcombe, in western Sydney.
Following the discovery of Ms James’s body last October, homicide detectives launched an immediate search for Thijssen, 24, who had been in a brief, failed relationship with Ms James.
The couple had arranged to meet for a final exchange of belongings on the night she died.
One year ago, the school sent out a 4.30am email to parents on October 26 last year, saying it would be closed down for the week following the discovery of Ms James’ body.
At the time the email went out, police had still not located their ‘person of interest’, Thijssen.
Students at the school where Lilie James (above) worked as a sports coach, along with the man who killed her Paul Thijssen, will be offered black armbands at sport fixtures this week on the one year anniversary of the tragedy
An inquest into the death of Paul Thijssen (above) and the young woman he killed will not hear from the school where they both worked before her murder and his suicide
Almost two days after Lilie’s murder, the body of Paul Thijssen was retrieved from the rocks at Diamond Bay, Vaucluse and brought up to street level
SACS brought in counsellors for parents and pupils during the morning, and relocated its HSC students who were due to sit their exams in the gymnasium to another building.
As Lilie James’ identity was confirmed, police scoured the coastline at Diamond Bay, Vaucluse for Thijssen and conducted line searches on the cliff above.
Around 5pm that afternoon, they found Thijssen’s backpack containing a hammer in a rubbish bin on the cliffside street above the bay.
On the morning of Friday, October 27, tradesman working on a clifftop walkway spotted a body wedged in rocks and being battered by the surf below.
Police divers managed to recover the bloated body, and after a tricky operation, hampered by rough weather conditions, it was retrieved around midday, taken away in a Stateside Mortuary van and identified as Thijssen.
It later emerged that Thijssen and Ms James had been dating for just five weeks when she broke things off.
The school confirmed it knew of the relationship after both staff members from its sports department had made them aware.
SACS said relationships were allowed between staff members, providing they followed protocol and notified the school.
A permanent memorial of a framed wreath, made from the ribbons ties around the flowers left outside as a tribute to Lilie James, now hangs in the school and will occasionally be placed in the foyer
Lilie James, 21, (right), a water polo coach at St Andrews Cathedral School (left) will be remembered in prayers at the school this week one year after her brutal murder by school hockey coach, Paul Thijssen
In the wake of tragedy, as Ms James’ family was remembering their daughter, the school made plans to create a permanent reminder of her short life in the form of a memorial or award which celebrates her memory.
‘We are devastated and heartbroken by the loss of our beautiful Lilie James,’ the James family statement said last year, ‘she was vibrant, outgoing and very much loved by her friends and family.’
It can now be revealed that the school demolished the gymnasium bathroom where the crime took place last November.
The new memorial created is a framed wreath made from the ribbons attached to the mountains of flowers left outside the school after Lilie’s death.
The wreath will be on permanent display on SACS’ sixth level, and ‘quietly displayed at times significant to Lilie’ from time to time in the the school foyer, ‘given the complexity of trauma and the ongoing grieving process’.
On the one year anniversary of her tragic death on Friday, school students will be given black armbands to wear in Ms James’ memory at sporting events this weekend.
Prayers for Lilie will be held on Friday, but due to the HSC exams for Year 12, the school is hoping to disrupt students’ schedules as little as possible ‘at such a critical time’.
‘The sports department will also be understanding of those students who do not wish to play on that day,’ Dr McGonigle informed parents this week.
‘The sports department will also be understanding of those students who do not wish to play on that day.’
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