Inquest rules Leeds teacher Ann Maguire was unlawfully killed

A jury at Wakefield Coroners Court has concluded that Leeds teacher Ann Maguire was unlawfully killed and made a series of recommendations.

The inquest jury said there were missed opportunities to share and record problem behaviour'' before Ann Maguire was murdered in a classroom

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.'

Coroner Kevin McLoughlin has said he wants 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 inquests 5 recommendations are...

A campaign in schools to encourage children to report weapons

Making it compulsory for OFSTED to inspect how schools manage safety

Taking action to prevent the sale of weapons online to children

A change to social media policies for 13-18 to have a named parent on the account so they can access accounts

A direct appeal to children and teens not to carry a knife and that it could cost a life

Ann was 61 years old and had taught at Corpus Christi Catholic college for more than 40 years when Will Cornick came to school armed with a knife, and stabbed her multiple times during a Spanish lesson on April 28 2014.

The inquest heard how, on the morning of the attack, Cornick told a number of children what he planned to do and also how he wanted to kill two other teachers at the school.

Much of the inquest focused on why it wasn't reported before the tragedy.

The jurors had been told they needed to consider whether the fact that the children did not report what they heard and saw contributed to Mrs Maguire's death.

Summing up the evidence, Coroner Kevin McLoughlin said the devastation caused by Mrs Maguire's murder on her family had been "self-evident''.

He added "the cruelty is unspeakable'' as he reminded the court that Mrs Maguire had adopted her sister's two sons after her death.

Ann Maguire's husband, Don, told the jury last week how he simply wanted all the evidence to be examined in detail.

Mr Maguire said that this had not happened because there had been no crown court trial, as Cornick pleaded guilty, and no serious case review.

He also criticised the Learning Lessons review carried out in the wake of the tragedy by the Leeds Safeguarding Children Board.

A "deep-seated grudge"

It emerged during the the inquest that Will Cornick told a friend on Facebook he would give him "a tenner'' to kill teacher Ann Maguire months before he stabbed her to death in her classroom.

A number of Cornick's Facebook messages exchanged with others were read to the jury, including some he sent on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day 2013.

In one message he said: "As long as she's alive. I'll be depressed, sad and angry... so there's only one thing to do".

In another he said about Mrs Maguire that she "deserves more than death, more than pain torture and more than anything that we can understand.''

'I can't breathe. I'm dying.'

The jury heard how Ann Maguire gasped during her final moments, "He's stabbed me in the neck. I'm dying''.

As children ran screaming Mrs Maguire, bleeding heavily, ran to an office followed by Cornick, who moments later as his victim lay dying, smiled at a police officer who arrested him, Wakefield Coroner's Court heard.

A paramedic said the victim suffered the worst stabbing injuries he had ever seen, including one wound that had gone completely through her body from back to front.

Mrs Maguire's husband, Don Maguire, closed his eyes and held a hand to his face and two of her sisters at the hearing kept their heads bowed as the jury heard details about the attack on April 28 2014.

Coroner Kevin McLoughlin began reading a series of witness statements, including that of Susan Francis, head of modern languages at the school.

Ms Francis said in her statement she was in a staff office when she suddenly heard "all this screaming'' and youngsters "running down the corridor, screaming looking horrified''.

Mrs Maguire then appeared holding the back of her neck, saying: "He's stabbed me in the neck.''

"She said, 'I can't breathe. I'm dying.' I just kept stroking her and kissing her. She knew she was dying.

"Her colour was going. The ambulance people arrived, their faces looked like they had walked into some kind of Armageddon.''

Paramedic Carl Sagar was first on the scene and rushed Mrs Maguire to hospital.

He said in his statement: "In all my career the stab wounds inflicted on Ann were the worst I have ever seen.''

Medics carried out resuscitation attempts for 40 minutes before, in the presence of her husband, a decision was made to stop, at 1.10pm.

The dedicated teacher, described as the "mother'' of her school, had clashed with "intelligent'' but "weird'' Cornick after she refused to let him drop Spanish studies, the inquest heard.

Understanding what happened

Will Cornick's dad, Ian, revealed through a statement during the inquest, that his son "very much regrets what he did and is desperate to find a route to get better''.

"He has told me that he very much regrets what he did and is desperate to find a route to get better.''

Mr Cornick said he has repeatedly gone over the events of April 28 2014, when his son was 15, and said: "I cannot point to anything that could have forewarned anybody of what was to happen.''

He added: "There was simply nothing I could point to in Will's demeanour prior to that Monday which helps me understand in any way what happened.''

Cornick's mother, Mrs Leadbeatter, said in her statement: "Our meetings now have moved on from when he was a 15-year-old child.

"We can talk more and more about what he did, his understanding of what he did, of its importance and remorse for his actions.''

Will Cornick was jailed for life for murder and ordered to spend at least 20 years in custody.