So SAD!! 15-YEAR-OLD BOY STABBED TEACHER 61, TO DEATH IN UK

A devoted teacher was stabbed to death in front of her horrified class yesterday by a pupil said to have a grudge against her.

Children screamed as the 15-year-old boy calmly walked up behind Ann Maguire in the middle of a lesson and repeatedly stabbed her in the neck with a kitchen knife. 

It is thought to be the first time a pupil has killed a teacher in a British classroom.

The attack comes 18 years after headmaster Philip Lawrence was stabbed to death outside the gates of his school.

As Mrs Maguire was being attacked, a fellow  teacher raced in and grabbed the boy. Other staff helped to detain him until police arrived. 

The middle class pupil, who was described as an ‘outcast’, has a picture of the Grim Reaper on his Facebook page.

Mrs Maguire, 61, was taken to hospital by paramedics after the attack, at  around 11.45am. But she was declared dead on arrival. 

Married with two grown -up daughters, Mrs Maguire was a caring Spanish teacher known as ‘the mother of her school’.

Late Ann Maguire

UK Prime Minister also tweet condolence message to the families & school Authority of Mrs Ann

Late Ann

The School Building 

One of Mrs Ann colleagues 

Church pay tribute to Late Mrs Ann

Fellow pupils said she had given the boy a detention last week and he told other pupils she was ‘always getting at him’.

Children at Corpus Christi Catholic College in Leeds were seen in tears as they were collected by their parents later in  the afternoon, after learning of Mrs Maguire’s death.

Nuns based at Corpus Christi Church, opposite the school, were seen comforting pupils in the hours after the killing.  

The alleged killer comes from a respectable middle-class family. His mother works as a human resources manager for a local firm and his father is a council executive. 

A 16-year-old classmate described the teenager as having few friends, saying he had been bullied previously and taken anti-depressants.

The boy was an ‘A grade pupil’ but he disliked Spanish and could not stand  the teacher.

Police described the attack as ‘unprecedented’. Screams were heard through the school, which has pupils aged from 11 to 16. The building was put in ‘lockdown’ when police arrived at the scene.

However, it quickly became clear there was no threat to other children and the suspect was taken into custody.

A woman whose cousin’s daughter was  in his class at the time of the attack said: ‘He had been given a detention a few days earlier and he had told classmates that she had “kept on getting at him”.

‘Another girl I know said she could hear the screaming from the upstairs class. A teacher heard the noise and ran in and grabbed him.’

Pupil Jacob Hill, 16, who had known the alleged attack since primary school, said: ‘He had gone through stages of depression and used to be on anti-depressants. He is really clever and always got top grades.’ 

The boy was said to have previously been suicidal. Other pupils described him as ‘really weird’. 

By contrast, Mrs Maguire was a highly regarded professional who had taught Spanish to two generations of children in Leeds.

Pupils took to Twitter to describe Mrs Maguire as 'great', an 'inspirational woman' and 'lovely'. One said: 'You were such a caring, funny and hardworking teacher. You'll certainly be missed.'

Pupils began leaving flowers at the school gate, with the message attached to the first bunch reading: 'To a special teacher. We was all sad about it. I will never forget you.' 

Kerrianne Ayward, 17, said: ‘She was just lovely. She was helpful and caring and you could have a laugh with her. She was always there for you, even if she didn't know you very well.'

Kerrianne, who left the school two years ago, said: ‘She's been my referee for everything, college, everything. There's no one else you would go to who's better. She was the heart of the school.’

Another former pupil, Peter Masefield, 18, said: ‘I just can't understand why her. Of all people. She was the school's figurehead.’

Laying flowers, former pupil Aine Arnold, 17, said: 'It's more like losing a family member than losing a teacher.

'As long as we were happy, she was happy. She would do anything for you.

'She helped me personally a lot. She's going to be such a loss to the school. 

'Hers were one of those lessons you didn't want to miss.

'She was just lovely. She was wonderful. I am devastated.'

Writing on the website RateMyTeachers.com, one former pupil said: 'She's like the school's own mother! Can be very strict but if you're nice to her she will always be there for you, a great woman!'

Another added: 'I think she's a good head of year, she's always there if you need someone to talk to :)'

West Yorkshire Police Chief Superintendent Paul Money said yesterday: ‘The alarm was raised by the students in the school, some of whom witnessed the offence.

‘A 61-year-old member of staff was treated by paramedics at the scene then taken to hospital but she tragically died.

‘A 15-year-old pupil at the school was detained by teaching staff immediately after this incident occurred and was taken into custody in Leeds.’