Ann Maguire's killer talked about stabbing another teacher to kill her unborn baby

A teacher has described how she was "absolutely shocked" when she found out the teenager who murdered Ann Maguire also talked about stabbing her to kill her unborn baby.
Killer Will CornickKiller Will Cornick
Killer Will Cornick

The inquest into Mrs Maguire's death has heard that Will Cornick told a number of pupils at Corpus Christi Catholic College, Leeds, that he was going to kill the Spanish teacher and also planned to attack her colleagues Andrew Kellett and Sinead Miley.

A jury at Wakefield Coroner's Court heard how one boy said Cornick told him he was "going to stab Miss Miley in the stomach because she was pregnant and wanted to kill the baby instead".

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On Wednesday, Ms Miley told the jury she was 34 weeks pregnant on the day Mrs Maguire was killed.

Ann MaguireAnn Maguire
Ann Maguire

She said: "I was absolutely shocked when I realised what had happened with regard to Ann and what he was planning to do with me as well."

The science teacher, who had also been a pupil at the school, told the court she had taught Cornick in a chemistry lesson in the period immediately before the Spanish lesson in which he stabbed Mrs Maguire on April 28 2014.

Nick Armstrong, representing Mrs Maguire's husband Don and their children, asked Ms Miley about how other pupils in the class had reported conversations with Cornick.

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One girl told police he said: "I don't want to hurt her, I want to kill her."

Ann MaguireAnn Maguire
Ann Maguire

The girl said Cornick told a group of five or six children in the class he probably would not be allowed to go to the school prom.

She said that when he was asked why, he replied: "You'll probably get it in about two hours."

The girl said: "I thought he was joking and I didn't understand the joke."

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She said Cornick claimed he had brought a bottle of alcohol with him "to celebrate because I would deserve it afterwards".

The girl told police: "He was always saying stuff like he would kill her - talking about death and giving people cancer and stuff like that."

According to Mr Armstrong, the girl also said Cornick talked about "unpleasant things about what he wanted to do to pregnant women".

Mr Armstrong asked Ms Miley whether she heard any of these exchanges in her class.

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The teacher said: "I didn't hear it. If I had heard that, I was a pregnant woman, I would have done something about it."

Mr Armstrong asked Ms Miley why she thought none of the students reported to staff what Cornick had said, saying this was the "stand-out" issue in the inquest.

She replied that she thought the children believed it was just "bravado" from Cornick.

Ms Miley said: "If these children thought something terrible like that was going to happen they would speak to an adult about it."

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She said Mrs Maguire had taught her when she was a girl and described her as "absolutely amazing".

Mr Kellett told the inquest how calm the teenager was after the attack, saying it was as if he was talking to him about his homework.

He said he talked to Cornick in the school's meeting room, where he was being held by police, and asked officers if it was OK to ring the teenager's parents.

Mr Kellett said Cornick casually told him that his mother was away on holiday and asked if he wanted his father's number.

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He said: "I was shocked just how calm it was - the way he spoke to me after what happened."

Mr Kellett said: "It was as if he was saying he'd not handed in his homework, he'd left it at home. The manner in which he spoke to me was so calm."

The maths teacher said he was "shocked" when he was told about Cornick's comments to other children about wanting to harm him too.

The coroner, Kevin McLoughlin, asked Mr Kellett if he had any "glimmer of thought about why he might have had that level of venom towards you".

The teacher replied: "Absolutely not."