William Cornick, 16, admits murdering Ann Maguire

A 16-year-old boy who this morning pleaded guilty to murdering his teacher, Ann Maguire, has been named as William Cornick after a judge lifted an anonymity order.

Mr Justice Coulson said that concerns about the welfare of Cornick and his family were outweighed by the public interest of open justice.

Appearing at Leeds Crown Court earlier today, Cornick admitted to stabbing Mrs Maguire, 61, during a class at Corpus Christi Catholic College in Leeds, this April, when he was just 15 years old. He was sentenced to life in prison and given a minimum tarriff of 20 years.

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Paul Greaney QC, prosecuting, told the court: "It is important that we should record that it is clear from the evidence that the parents of [the boy] are decent people and responsible parents. They are at a loss to understand how and why their son has turned out as he has and they have co-operated fully with the police and with the prosecution.

He added: "It follows that this is not one of those cases in which a defendant's actions may find a degree of explanation in his family circumstances. On the contrary, [the boy’s] family life was marked by love and support."

The court heard that Maguire had been Cornick's Spanish teacher. He was regarded as a model pupil in year 7 when he was "amicable, enthusiastic and conscientious". But his attitude changed after he was diagnosed with diabetes, which "had a major impact on his mood and personality," The Guardian reports. Evidence of self-harming was soon noticed by his mother.

Cornick developed a hatred for his Spanish teacher and told other children that he wanted her dead.

On the day of the murder he brought knives to school as well as a bottle of Jack Daniels whisky to "celebrate afterwards".

During his Spanish class he winked at a fellow student and said he was going to kill Maguire. He then made his way to the front of the classroom and stabbed his teacher in the back and neck. At 5'2 she was a foot shorter than him.

After the attack, Maguire managed to run out of the room. As he returned to his desk, the boy reportedly said to another student: "Pity she didn't die."

The boy was restrained by teachers after the attack. Maguire was rushed to Leeds General Infirmary but died from her injuries an hour after being admitted.

A postmortem found that the cause of death was shock and haemorrhage. "Although there were a number of stab wounds, a stab wound to her neck had severed her jugular vein and was the fatal injury," pathologist Brian Roger told a coroner.

In court, the boy’s parents listened intently to the details of their son’s crime, the BBC reports. Because of the boy’s young age, the judge and barristers did not wear wigs and gowns at the hearing.