THE family of teacher Ann Maguire have lost their appeal against a coroner’s decision not to call evidence from students who had contact with her schoolboy killer.
Mrs Maguire, 61, was stabbed to death by Will Cornick, who was 15 at the time, as she taught a class at Corpus Christi Catholic College in Leeds in April 2014.
Cornick was later sentenced to life with a minimum term of 20 years for killing his teacher, whose parents hail from Co. Mayo.
An inquest into the Spanish teacher’s death is due to take place before a jury at Wakefield Coroner’s Court in November.
Maguire’s husband Don, along with her children and nephews, had challenged a decision by the assistant West Yorkshire coroner, Kevin McLoughlin, to not call evidence from her former pupils.
But their appeal was thrown out by Mr Justice Holroyde at London’s High Court on August 14.
Dismissing the claim for judicial review, the judge said: "I have much sympathy for the claimants, and I fully understand their reasons for wishing to pursue this line of inquiry.
"For the reasons I have given, however, I am unable to accept the submission that the assistant coroner reached a decision which was so seriously flawed as to be ...unreasonable."
Justice Holroyde said transcripts from 2014 police interviews with her pupils would be used in the inquest instead.
After her death, some of Mrs Maguire’s students told police they had not taken seriously threats made by Cornick against his teacher’s life.
The community in Leeds were shocked by the murder of the respected and well-liked 61-year-old who was nearing retirement, after teaching at the school for 40 years.
The Ann Maguire Arts Education Fund was set up by the Maguire family in the wake of the tragedy.
The charity benefits thousands of students with bursary and scholarship programmes throughout Britain.
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