THE IRISH community in Leeds is in mourning after the fatal stabbing of a teacher at a Catholic secondary school yesterday.
Anne Maguire, whose family is well known to the local GAA community, died of multiple stab wounds, a postmortem today confirmed.
The 61-year-old teacher was killed in front of her pupils at Corpus Christi Catholic College in the Halton Moor area of east Leeds.
A 15-year-old male pupil has been arrested at the scene by West Yorkshire Police after being restrained by teachers and remains in custody.
He is to be questioned by detectives later today.
Frank Gallagher, a 65-year-old Mayo man whose grandson goes to the school, said he was “shocked” by the news.
“I am horrified,” he said. “This is a very good school and not the kind of place where you would expect this kind of thing to happen.”
Mrs Maguire, whose husband played Gaelic football with the Young Irelands club, taught Spanish and religious education at the school in the east of Leeds.
She was head of year 11 and had been a teacher for 40 years.
Although she was taken to hospital for treatment, she was later pronounced dead.
Prime Minister David Cameron has described the incident as ‘appalling’. As news of her death broke, students and teachers were said to be in tears, with scores taking to social media to pay tribute to Mrs Maguire.
Det Supt Simon Beldon said police wanted to reassure people that the attack was an isolated incident and that there was “no ongoing risk to pupils or staff at the school”.
