Ann Maguire's family lose High Court bid over pupils' evidence at inquest

Ann Maguire's family want a judge to rule that pupils should give evidence Credit: PA

The family of murdered school teacher Ann Maguire have lost a High Court bid to overturn a coroner's ruling that pupils should not be called to give evidence at her inquest.

Mrs Maguire, who was 61, was stabbed to death by teenage pupil Will Cornick as she taught a Spanish class at Corpus Christi Catholic College in Leeds in April.

Cornick was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 20 years.

An inquest into Mrs Maguire's death is due to take place before a jury atWakefield Coroner's Court in November.

West Yorkshire coroner Kevin McLoughlin had said there was no need to call pupils to give evidence.

But Mrs Maguire's widower, Don, and his family wanted Mr Justice Holroyde to order that the decision be reconsidered.

Dismissing the claim for judicial review, the judge said: "I have muchsympathy for the claimants, and I fully understand their reasons for wishing to pursue this line of inquiry."

"However, I am unable to accept the submission that the assistant coroner reached a decision which was so seriously flawed as to be ...unreasonable."

The Maguires' lawyer Yogi Amin, of Irwin Mitchell, said the family would "take stock and discuss the options" following the ruling.

He added: "They remain committed to finding out the truth and exactly what happened on the day Ann was killed through a thorough, open and fair process. They believe it is the only way that lessons will be learned from the incident.”