British boy jailed for killing teacher

A 16-year-old boy who stabbed his teacher to death in front of her class has been warned he may never be released from prison.

In a murder that shocked Britain, Will Cornick stabbed Ann Maguire, 61, seven times from behind as she taught a Spanish class at Corpus Christi Catholic College in Leeds in April.

On Monday, Mr Justice Coulson called the crime a "monumental act of cowardice and evil" and said he found the teenager's pride and lack of remorse over his actions "truly grotesque".

He told Cornick, who was 15 at the time, he must serve at least 20 years in custody before he is considered for release but he warned him: "It's quite possible that day may never come."

The teenager attacked Maguire after boasting to friends he was going to kill her. Cornick also said he was going to murder other teachers, including a pregnant woman "so as to kill her unborn child", Leeds Crown Court heard.

He later told doctors: "I said I was going to do other stuff but I never got the chance, other murders. It was a triple homicide."

After the murder Cornick told psychiatrists he "couldn't give a s***" and added: "Everything I've done is fine and dandy."

Maguire's family listened as prosecutors described how Cornick winked at another boy before he launched into a savage assault in front of a terrified class full of pupils.

Maguire was left with stab wounds the paramedic who attended said were the worst she had seen, including one wound that went straight through her neck and another that cut her jugular vein.

Despite the injuries caused by the eight-inch-long kitchen knife, the teacher managed to leave the classroom, pursued by the teenager, until a colleague bundled her into a room, held the door shut to keep Cornick out and grabbed the weapon from the floor.

The packed court heard that Cornick went back into the classroom, sat down and said "Good times" in front of his traumatised classmates and then adopted a "bizarre calmness and air of normality".

When he was sentenced, as with when he was stabbing Maguire to death, Cornick showed no emotion.

Outlining the case, prosecutor Paul Greaney QC said Cornick was in Mrs Maguire's Spanish class and there was nothing to indicate to the boy's parents or teachers a risk of "homicidal violence".

But, he said, Cornick told other children he hated Maguire and wanted her dead.

The prosecutor said Cornick took a bottle of Jack Daniel's whiskey to school to celebrate after the attack.

Greaney said Cornick left a room next to where Maguire was teaching and winked at a fellow student before going in to attack her.

The prosecutor said: "Undoubtedly, one of the most disturbing aspects of an extremely disturbing case is that William Cornick not only lacks remorse but is proud of what he did in killing Mrs Maguire, who he at one stage described to (a psychiatrist) as barely human."

He said the defendant told a psychiatrist: "I wasn't in shock, I was happy.

"I had a sense of pride. I still do."

Cornick added: "I did not have a choice. It was kill her or suicide.''

Greaney quoted lead prosecution psychiatrist John Kent, saying that Cornick's own words showed a "gross lack of empathy for his victim and a degree of callousness rarely seen in a clinical practice".

Mrs Maguire was killed after teaching at Corpus Christi for more than 40 years. She was due to retire in September.