15 year-old in court over murder of Leeds teacher

A twenty-one-year old man has today been warned he could face jail for writing an offensive message on Facebook about the murder of teacher Ann Maguire.

Jake Newsome, who is from Harehills in Leeds, admitted posting the words on the social networking site just days after she died.

His appearance at Leeds Magistrates Court this afternoon came as it was confirmed that the funeral of 61 year old Mrs Maguire will be held in the city on Friday.

Lisa Adlam reports:

A third person has admitted posting offensive messages on social media in the aftermath of murder of Leeds teacher Ann Maguire.

Jake Newsome, 21, admitted posting a 'grossly offensive' comment on Facebook.

Newsome appeared at Leeds Magistrates Court to plead guilty to sending a malicious communication on May 1.

He is due to be sentenced on June 4.

An inquest has been told how Leeds teacher Ann Maguire died after being stabbed in the neck.

Leeds Coroner's Court heard that she died from "shock and haemorrhage". The inquest in Leeds had been opened and adjourned. A fifteen year old boy has been charged with her murder.

An inquest is due to open today into the death of teacher Ann Maguire who was fatally stabbed in her classroom.

Mrs Maguire, 61, died a fortnight ago after she was attacked as she taught a Spanish lesson at Corpus Christi Catholic College, in Leeds, where she had worked for more than 40 years.

Police have said she died from multiple stab wounds after the incident which happened in front of a group of pupils on April 28.

Tributes to the teacher have flooded in from around the world and a 100m long collection of flowers, messages, photographs and other mementos has stretched from the gates of Corpus Christi to the church next door.

She was due to retire in September and, last year, the school celebrated her 40 years of service. Head teacher Steve Mort has said she was the "mother of the school".

Mrs Maguire lived in the Moortown area of Leeds with her husband Don, who is a landscape gardener and former teacher. She left two grown-up daughters and two nephews who she brought up as her own sons after the death of her sister nearly 30 years ago.

The inquest into her death is due to be opened by West Yorkshire Coroner David Hinchliff at Leeds Coroner's Court this morning.

A 15-year-old boy has appeared in court accused of murdering Mrs Maguire. He is remanded in custody and is due to go on trial later this year.

West Yorkshire Police have criticised the sending of abusive messages on social media following the stabbing of a teacher in Leeds.

One man was jailed today for Twitter messages, while two more are charged with similar offences.

Ann Maguire was stabbed to death at Corpus Christi Catholic College last week.

Prosecutor Linda Baker told the court that following a complaint to police, other offensive tweets by Robert Riley came to light.

Among them were messages about the missing Malaysian plane, the Korean ferry disaster and champion tennis player Serena Williams.

During Robert Riley's sentencing, chairwoman of the bench Georgina Scannell voiced her disgust at his "vile" and "offensive" online messages.

Read: Port Talbot man jailed for abusive online messages

Despite widespread shock at the death of Leeds schoolteacher Ann Maguire, magistrates in Swansea heard Robert Riley saw fit to make fun of the tragedy online two days later.

Despite a backlash from other Twitter users horrified by his messages, the 42-year-old remained incredulous, saying: "Of all the sick things I've tweeted, starvation, genocide, rape and torture, it's the teacher from Leeds that outrages everyone the most."

A man who admitted posting offensive messages on Twitter about stabbed teacher Ann Maguire has been jailed at Swansea Magistrates Court for eight weeks.

Robert Riley, 42, was the second person to be charged with the offence in the wake of the death of Mrs Maguire, who was stabbed to death in her classroom at Corpus Christi Catholic College, a week ago.

Yesterday a third person was arrested in Cardiff and bailed.

The magistrate said the messages were also racially and religiously aggravated and could only impose a custodial sentence.