Star comment: Teachers must not be at risk
He was a model pupil who scored pretty hard marks. His teacher thought he could do better, so encouraged him to excel. And then he murdered her, by stabbing her repeatedly in the back before a full classroom of horrified children.
The story of Will Cornick, the psychopathic schoolboy who was told by a judge that he may die in jail, sends shudders down the spine. And while his grave and diabolical actions represented an isolated incident, they pose many questions.
The last time a British teacher was killed was 19 years ago, when headmaster Philip Lawrence was stabbed by a pupil from another school after he tried to help a child who was being attacked.
Firstly, Cornick had repeatedly warned that he would kill his victim, Ann Maguire.
His posts on Facebook were chilling. He even showed others his knife on the morning of the killing. His threats were evidently not taken seriously. Nothing was done. Later it emerged he also planned to take the lives of two other teachers.
The safeguards that are in place for all members of the teaching profession, particularly those in secondary schools and colleges, must be reassessed. Teachers need to know that their safety in class is of the highest priority.
There is a wider issue at stake, which affects teachers right here in Shropshire and Mid-Wales.
Each year, there are around 17,000 fixed-term exclusions in the UK against children for physically attacking teachers. Those youngsters are sent home for limited period of time for pushing, jostling or otherwise manhandling a member of staff.
The more-worrying figure is that around 600 pupils per year are permanently excluded from British schools for attacking teachers.
So, while severe violence is rare – and incidents such as that involving the late Ann Maguire happen once-in-a-generation – there are still too many.
The killing of Ann Maguire was appalling. It was a one-off. But it should prompt us to examine the safeguards in place for teachers.
Those who nurture the nation's youngsters must be confident that they are safe in their work.
