A 16-year-old boy was today sentenced to life in prison
A 16-year-old stabbed teacher Ann Maguire to death as judge sentences him to 20 years in prison with a minimum of 20 years after he admitted murdering teacher Ann Maguire.
It came as prosecutors released a photograph of the classroom at Corpus Christi Catholic College in Leeds, where the teenager - then aged 16 - stabbed Mrs Maguire, 61, as she taught in April.
It came as prosecutors released a photograph of the classroom at Corpus Christi Catholic College in Leeds, where the teenager - then aged 16 - stabbed Mrs Maguire, 61, as she taught in April.
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Leeds Crown Court heard he sent a Facebook message weeks before the killing, which said of Mrs Maguire: ‘The one absolute f****** bitch that deserves more than death, more than pain and more than anything that we can understand.’
He later told a psychiatrist: 'I wasn't in shock, I was happy. I had a sense of pride. I still do'. The boy also said after the killing that he thought everything he had done was 'fine and dandy’.
Mr Justice Coulson - who said the boy may never be released - said he showed a 'chilling lack of remorse' over the attack that saw him chase Mrs Maguire, 'stabbing her as she sought to escape'.
He set the 20-year tariff - the minimum time the boy must serve in custody before he is released - but added that, after reading about him, 'it's quite possible that day may never come'.
The boy - who cannot be named for legal reasons - dramatically pleaded guilty earlier, on the day he was due to stand trial for her killing.
The court was also told how he had brought a bottle of whisky to school to celebrate after the attack, and had winked at a fellow pupil before starting to stab Mrs Maguire.
The boy was said to have had a good family background with 'decent and responsible parents' - but wanted to be caught and jailed to avoid future worries about life and money.
Prosecutor Paul Greaney QC told the court: ‘Late on the night of Christmas Eve 2013 and into the early hours of Christmas Day, the defendant exchanged messages with a friend on Facebook.
The boy told a psychiatrist how he planned the murder. The prosecutor said he brought a bottle of whisky to school to celebrate after the attack.
Mr Greaney told the court how the defendant said to the expert: ‘I decided on Sunday it was going to be a knife.
Leeds Crown Court heard he sent a Facebook message weeks before the killing, which said of Mrs Maguire: ‘The one absolute f****** bitch that deserves more than death, more than pain and more than anything that we can understand.’
He later told a psychiatrist: 'I wasn't in shock, I was happy. I had a sense of pride. I still do'. The boy also said after the killing that he thought everything he had done was 'fine and dandy’.
Mr Justice Coulson - who said the boy may never be released - said he showed a 'chilling lack of remorse' over the attack that saw him chase Mrs Maguire, 'stabbing her as she sought to escape'.
He set the 20-year tariff - the minimum time the boy must serve in custody before he is released - but added that, after reading about him, 'it's quite possible that day may never come'.
The boy - who cannot be named for legal reasons - dramatically pleaded guilty earlier, on the day he was due to stand trial for her killing.
The court was also told how he had brought a bottle of whisky to school to celebrate after the attack, and had winked at a fellow pupil before starting to stab Mrs Maguire.
The boy was said to have had a good family background with 'decent and responsible parents' - but wanted to be caught and jailed to avoid future worries about life and money.
Prosecutor Paul Greaney QC told the court: ‘Late on the night of Christmas Eve 2013 and into the early hours of Christmas Day, the defendant exchanged messages with a friend on Facebook.
The boy told a psychiatrist how he planned the murder. The prosecutor said he brought a bottle of whisky to school to celebrate after the attack.
Mr Greaney told the court how the defendant said to the expert: ‘I decided on Sunday it was going to be a knife.
I thought I was just going to go to school and wait for her lesson and do it.
The prosecutor said Mrs Maguire fled but she was chased by the boy ‘stabbing her as she sought to escape’.
Mr Greaney said the boy had earlier told pupils he wanted to attack other teachers, including a pregnant woman ‘so as to kill her unborn child’.
Mr Greaney said Mrs Maguire's friend and colleague Susan Francis heard screaming and rushed into the corridor where she found children ‘screaming in panic’.
The prosecutor added: ‘That his anger and hatred in fact became focused upon a person as decent and loved as Ann Maguire only makes this case the more tragic and goes to explain the outpouring of grief that there has been within the school and within the community.’
As details of the attack on Mrs Maguire were read out to the court, the defendant looked down at his hands in his lap, picking at his nails and fingers and occasionally glancing up towards the front of the room.
He spoke of "brutally killing" Mrs Maguire and spending the rest of his life in jail so as not to have to worry about life or money
Paul Greaney QC, prosecuting
His mother was visibly upset as Mr Greaney described the murder and both parents stared straight ahead during the opening of the case.
Video statements from pupils who witnessed the attack were shown to the court.
As the students described what happened, Mrs Maguire's husband, Don, shook his head. Other family members wiped tears from their eyes and looked over at the defendant in the dock.
Mrs Maguire's daughter, Kerry, covered her face with her hands as Mr Greaney described how a friend and colleague had comforted her mother as she lay dying
Further video evidence was shown to the court in which pupils spoke about Mrs Maguire, describing her as a dedicated teacher.
Mr Maguire removed his glasses and closed his eyes as he listened to the statements. In a victim statement read to the court, Mr Maguire described the attack on his wife as a 'monumental act of cowardice and evil'.
The prosecutor said Mrs Maguire fled but she was chased by the boy ‘stabbing her as she sought to escape’.
Mr Greaney said the boy had earlier told pupils he wanted to attack other teachers, including a pregnant woman ‘so as to kill her unborn child’.
Mr Greaney said Mrs Maguire's friend and colleague Susan Francis heard screaming and rushed into the corridor where she found children ‘screaming in panic’.
The prosecutor added: ‘That his anger and hatred in fact became focused upon a person as decent and loved as Ann Maguire only makes this case the more tragic and goes to explain the outpouring of grief that there has been within the school and within the community.’
As details of the attack on Mrs Maguire were read out to the court, the defendant looked down at his hands in his lap, picking at his nails and fingers and occasionally glancing up towards the front of the room.
He spoke of "brutally killing" Mrs Maguire and spending the rest of his life in jail so as not to have to worry about life or money
Paul Greaney QC, prosecuting
His mother was visibly upset as Mr Greaney described the murder and both parents stared straight ahead during the opening of the case.
Video statements from pupils who witnessed the attack were shown to the court.
As the students described what happened, Mrs Maguire's husband, Don, shook his head. Other family members wiped tears from their eyes and looked over at the defendant in the dock.
Mrs Maguire's daughter, Kerry, covered her face with her hands as Mr Greaney described how a friend and colleague had comforted her mother as she lay dying
Further video evidence was shown to the court in which pupils spoke about Mrs Maguire, describing her as a dedicated teacher.
Mr Maguire removed his glasses and closed his eyes as he listened to the statements. In a victim statement read to the court, Mr Maguire described the attack on his wife as a 'monumental act of cowardice and evil'.
In February this year - two months before the killing - Mrs Maguire banned the boy from going on a school trip for failing to do his homework but he went anyway.
At a subsequent disciplinary meeting, the teenager walked out and was disrespectful, the court heard. His parents were called to school and, according to the boy's father, he made plain ‘that he hated Mrs Maguire’.
He was in my class and he would sit on his own and just stare straight ahead. No one really noticed him. That's why it was such a big surprise
Former classmate of boy
He was placed in internal exclusion at Corpus Christi. Many pupils at Corpus Christi Catholic College were surprised when they found out whom the police had arrested.
They thought of him as a quiet boy who liked playing computer games at home. One 16-year-old girl said he rarely spoke and many of his contemporaries thought he was ‘a bit weird’.
‘He was in my class and he would sit on his own and just stare straight ahead,’ she said. ‘No one really noticed him. That's why it was such a big surprise.’
Others said he was a bright pupil from a ‘nice’, middle-class family.
‘They're just a normal family,’ a teenager said. ‘Can you imagine what they are thinking today? He's a smart kid too - all top grades. He was good at drawing too.’
One girl said: ‘I think it's come as a shock to everyone to hear he's been arrested. I didn't know who he was until someone explained and I realised I knew him. He's just a quiet one.’
One 16-year-old who has known the boy since primary school said: ‘I could not believe it when I heard his name. He is just so quiet. He's an emo but he's an ordinary, quiet bloke.’
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At a subsequent disciplinary meeting, the teenager walked out and was disrespectful, the court heard. His parents were called to school and, according to the boy's father, he made plain ‘that he hated Mrs Maguire’.
He was in my class and he would sit on his own and just stare straight ahead. No one really noticed him. That's why it was such a big surprise
Former classmate of boy
He was placed in internal exclusion at Corpus Christi. Many pupils at Corpus Christi Catholic College were surprised when they found out whom the police had arrested.
They thought of him as a quiet boy who liked playing computer games at home. One 16-year-old girl said he rarely spoke and many of his contemporaries thought he was ‘a bit weird’.
‘He was in my class and he would sit on his own and just stare straight ahead,’ she said. ‘No one really noticed him. That's why it was such a big surprise.’
Others said he was a bright pupil from a ‘nice’, middle-class family.
‘They're just a normal family,’ a teenager said. ‘Can you imagine what they are thinking today? He's a smart kid too - all top grades. He was good at drawing too.’
One girl said: ‘I think it's come as a shock to everyone to hear he's been arrested. I didn't know who he was until someone explained and I realised I knew him. He's just a quiet one.’
One 16-year-old who has known the boy since primary school said: ‘I could not believe it when I heard his name. He is just so quiet. He's an emo but he's an ordinary, quiet bloke.’
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