Ann Maguire: Schoolboy who stabbed teacher to death held 'deep-seated grudge', inquest hears

Pupil Will Cornick attacked and killed Spanish tutor on 28 April 2014

Will Cornick was jailed for a minimum of 20 years for stabbing teacher Ann Maguire to death (PA)

A 15-year-old pupil stabbed teacher Ann Maguire to death in a “completely irrational act stemming from a deep-seated grudge”, a senior detective has told the inquest into her death.

Detective Superintendent Nick Wallen said the 61-year-old “stood absolutely no chance whatsoever” when she was attacked in her classroom by teenager Will Cornick as she taught Spanish at Corpus Christi Catholic College, Leeds.

Giving evidence on the first day of the inquest into Mrs Maguire's death, Mr Wallen told Wakefield Coroners Court how Cornick told at least 10 other children what he was going to do to Mrs Maguire on the morning of 28 April 2014, but they did not tell staff.

Cornick is said to have boasted: "I would kill Maguire for a tenner [£10]... if I do it [kill her] on Tuesday will you bail me out?

"Let's break into school, smash everything in Spanish, then get drunk, do it again and punch some walls."

Mr Wallen said none of these teenagers should be blamed for what happened and explained that he had instructed his detectives not to ask them why they did not report what Cornick had told them.

He told an inquest jury: “It would be wholly wrong to sit here and raise that perhaps all this could have been avoided if a 15-year-old boy had told the teacher.”

The officer told the inquest: “He (Cornick) was a young man who was prone to say things that weren't true. That's the reason that, on the day, most people who Will spoke to thought 'That's just Will, that's what he does'.”

Mr Wallen said: “This attack came completely out of the blue. Nobody in the classroom saw this coming.”

He added: “I would say she stood absolutely no chance whatsoever.”

Mr Wallen said that despite finding Facebook messages in which Cornick expressed his hatred for the teacher and how he wanted to kill her, he believed the attack could not have been predicted.

He dismissed any suggestion that a fall-out with Mrs Maguire over a detention and her refusal to let him drop Spanish explained what he went on to do.

The detective told the court: “We spoke to his teachers and his parents and at no time did we have the impression of a disruptive, violent, angry individual who there was any sense was about to explode in a frenzy of violence such as this.”

The detective said: “I absolutely am of the view that there is one person responsible for Ann Maguire's death - that is William Cornick.”

He said: “Nothing in the days and weeks preceding the murder could have given anyone at the school, the police, his family, any idea whatsoever that anything of this sheer horror was about to take place.”

Mr Wallen said he was not aware that Cornick listened to the track 'Jungle Boogie' in lessons - the theme from the Quentin Tarantino film Pulp Fiction.

He said the fact that Cornick played video games such as Assassin's Creed was not unusual behaviour.

Mr Wallen said: “We cannot, from what happened, have foreseen this enormous crescendo of rage and violence that took place on that day.”

Mrs Maguire's husband, Don Maguire, said he had difficulty accepting the prevailing “narrative” that there was “no explanation and no logic” to what Cornick did, and explained that this was why he had pushed for further investigations.

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

PA