'The best teacher we ever had': Pupils mourn school's 'mother' as middle-class drug-user, 15, with Grim Reaper on his Facebook page is held over first ever murder of a teacher in a UK classroom
Ann Maguire taught RE and Spanish at Corpus Christi Catholic College Male pupil, 15, said to have walked up and stabbed her in the neck Alleged attacker described as a 'middle class pupil' who was 'really weird' Pupils say Mrs Maguire had given him a detention last week Teenager said to have told his peers teacher was 'always getting at him' Pupils praised Mrs Maguire as 'great' an 'inspirational woman' and 'lovely' One said 'devoted' 61-year-old was the 'mother of the school'
Thought to be the first time a teacher has been killed by a student in a UK classroom
A devoted teacher was stabbed to death in front of her horrified class yesterday by a pupil said to have a grudge against her. Children screamed as the 15-year-old boy calmly walked up behind Ann Maguire in the middle of a lesson and repeatedly stabbed her in the neck with a kitchen knife. It is thought to be the first time a pupil has killed a teacher in a British classroom. The attack comes 18 years after headmaster Philip Lawrence was stabbed to death outside the gates of his school. Scroll down for videos
As Mrs Maguire was being attacked, a fellow teacher raced in and grabbed the boy. Other staff helped to detain him until police arrived. The middle class pupil, who was described as an ?outcast?, has a picture of the Grim Reaper on his Facebook page. Mrs Maguire, 61, was taken to hospital by paramedics after the attack, at around 11.45am. But she was declared dead on arrival. Married with two grown -up daughters, Mrs Maguire was a caring Spanish teacher known as ?the mother of her school?.
Fellow pupils said she had given the boy a detention last week and he told other pupils she was ?always getting at him?. Children at Corpus Christi Catholic College in Leeds were seen in tears as they were collected by their parents later in the afternoon, after learning of Mrs Maguire?s death. Nuns based at Corpus Christi Church, opposite the school, were seen comforting pupils in the hours after the killing.
The alleged killer comes from a respectable middle-class family. His mother works as a human resources manager for a local firm and his father is a council executive. A 16-year-old classmate described the teenager as having few friends, saying he had been bullied previously and taken anti-depressants. The boy was an ?A grade pupil? but he disliked Spanish and could not stand the teacher. Police described the attack as ?unprecedented?. Screams were heard through the school, which has pupils aged from 11 to 16.
The building was put in ?lockdown? when police arrived at the scene. However, it quickly became clear there was no threat to other children and the suspect was taken into custody. A woman whose cousin?s daughter was in his class at the time of the attack said: ?
He had been given a detention a few days earlier and he had told classmates that she had ?kept on getting at him?. ?Another girl I know said she could hear the screaming from the upstairs class. A teacher heard the noise and ran in and grabbed him.?
Pupil Jacob Hill, 16, who had known the alleged attack since primary school, said: ?
He had gone through stages of depression and used to be on anti-depressants. He is really clever and always got top grades.? The boy was said to have previously been suicidal. Other pupils described him as ?really weird?. By contrast, Mrs Maguire was a highly regarded professional who had taught Spanish to two generations of children in Leeds. Pupils took to Twitter to describe Mrs Maguire as 'great', an 'inspirational woman' and 'lovely'. One said: 'You were such a caring, funny and hardworking teacher. You'll certainly be missed.' Pupils began leaving flowers at the school gate, with the message attached to the first bunch reading: 'To a special teacher. We was all sad about it. I will never forget you.'
West Yorkshire Police Chief Superintendent Paul Money said yesterday: ?The alarm was raised by the students in the school, some of whom witnessed the offence. ?A 61-year-old member of staff was treated by paramedics at the scene then taken to hospital but she tragically died. ?A 15-year-old pupil at the school was detained by teaching staff immediately after this incident occurred and was taken into custody in Leeds.?
He described the incident as unprecedented and said staff he had spoken to were in shock. He also confirmed the victim suffered a number of stab wounds and a knife was recovered from the scene. The school, which is a specialist technology college, is consistently oversubscribed - and also has 'a strong Christian and community ethos'. Its website says: 'The school has a very good pastoral structure, which it is committed to keeping and teachers receive very good back-up support.'
There are nearly 1,000 pupils aged between 11 and 16, and 62 teachers are listed as working there -as well as various academic support staff. Detective Superintendent Simon Beldon said: ?We would like to reassure people that this has been an isolated incident and there is no ongoing risk to pupils or staff at the school. ?The situation is under control and officers, including safer schools officers and members of the local neighbourhood policing team, are currently at the school and are liaising closely with staff.
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Hilary Benn, Labour MP for Leeds Central, described the incident as ?profoundly saddening? but said he was not in favour of stringent security measures that would keep staff and pupils ?behind high fences?. He told BBC News: ?Most people are good and most people try and do the right thing. ?This is not representative of the college, of the community that surrounds it, the families that send their children to school and the city itself. But it is profoundly saddening.? He added: ?Schools are places of learning. We want our schools to be open - we don't want to lock pupils and staff behind high fences.? Downing Street described the stabbing as ?appalling?.
?The Prime Minister's thoughts are very much with the victim's relatives as well as the entire school community there, which I'm sure will be deeply shocked,? the Prime Minister's official spokesman said. In an Ofsted inspection last year the school received an overall rating of two, meaning it requires improvement compared with three or good in a previous inspection. Areas singled out for improvement included quality of teaching, achievement of pupils and leadership and management.
The behaviour and safety of pupils was the only main area of assessment rated as being good. In its summary of key findings, Ofsted said teaching did not consistently ensure that pupils were making good progress. It said GCSE results had fluctuated and pupils were not given the opportunity to learn independently. However, inspectors praised pupils? spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and said behaviour was good both in the classroom and around the school.
SCHOOL HEADTEACHER PHILIP LAWRENCE MURDERED IN 1995
School headteacher Philip Lawrence was murdered in 1995 when he attempted to protect one of his pupils from being attacked by a street gang. The 48-year-old was hit over the head with an iron bar, kicked and then stabbed through the heart, outside St George's Roman Catholic School in Maida Vale, north-west London. The fatal blow was struck by 15-year-old Learco Chindamo, who had denied the crime but was convicted and jailed for a minimum of 12 years in 1996.
Almost 1,000 schoolchildren have been caught with lethal weapons such as guns, knives, axes and hammers in just three years, it was revealed earlier this month. Two pupils a day are having weapons confiscated by police on school premises, including children as young as eight. The results of Freedom of Information requests to the UK?s 52 police forces show that officers confiscated 981 weapons ? including handguns, air guns, knuckledusters, crowbars and lead piping from pupils between 2011 and 2013.
Eighty of the youngsters were primary school pupils, including an eight-year-old caught carrying a knife. The figures, from an investigation by Sky News, showed 329 pupils were charged with a criminal offence after having weapons confiscated. A stun gun, an axe and a cut-throat razor were among the weapons they were carrying. The parents of Luke Walmsley, who was murdered with a knife at school in rural Lincolnshire in 2003, said a culture of violence persisted around the country.
Jayne Walmsley, whose son was 14 when he was stabbed during a break in lessons, described the figures as ?really shocking?. She added: ?We need to think and educate these kids. It?s got to stop.? ?But sometimes it feels a little bit like you are banging your head on a brick wall. Especially when schools now won?t admit to the problem because all they want is more pupils for more money.?
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