Jury to sit at murdered Leeds teacher's inquest

A JURY will be called to sit at the inquest into the death of murdered Leeds schoolteacher Ann Maguire.
Ann MaguireAnn Maguire
Ann Maguire

Assistant West Yorkshire Coroner Kevin McLoughlin made the decision that the inquest should be held in front of a jury during a second pre-inquest review hearing at Wakefield Coroner’s Court yesterday.

The inquest, which has been scheduled for five days, is due to start at Wakefield Coroner’s Court on March 13.

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Assistant coroner Mr McLoughlin told the packed courtroom: “This is such an unusual case that there is sufficient reason for me to sit with a jury.”

Spanish teacher Mrs Maguire, 61, was stabbed to death by student Will Cornick, who was 14 at the time, at Corpus Christi Catholic College, in Halton Moor, in April 2014.

In November 2014, a Leeds Crown Court judge jailed Cornick for life with a minimum 20-year term after he admitted murder.

Mrs Maguire’s husband Don and daughters Emma and Kerry were among family members who were at yesterday’s second pre-inquest review hearing in Wakefield

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Lawyers representing members of Mrs Maguire’s family, West Yorkshire Police, Leeds City Council and her teenage killer Will Cornick, spoke at the hearing.

Discussions took place about witnesses due to attend and the scope of the hearing.

Mr McLoughlin told the first pre-inquest review hearing last November: “This inquest is primarily about learning lessons because we know this vicious incident and too clearly what happened.”

Last September, The education centre at The Mansion in Roundhay Park was renamed The Ann Maguire Education Centre.

Youngsters who have benefited from the Ann Maguire Educational Fund, which was set up in 2014 in her memory, performed songs and poems at the ceremony.