British schoolteacher Ann Maguire died of 'multiple stab wounds'

The British schoolteacher who was murdered in front of her pupils died of multiple stab wounds, a postmortem has confirmed.

Ann Maguire, 61, was killed in her classroom at Corpus Christi Catholic College in the Halton Moor area of the city of Leeds on Monday.

Described yesterday as an "amazing, inspirational teacher" who was an "asset to the city", she had worked at the school for 40 years and was due to retire at the end of the summer term, the chair of governors said.

A 15-year-old boy from the school was arrested after being restrained by teachers. He remains in custody. He was to be questioned by detectives yesterday, West Yorkshire police said.

The boy was too "traumatised" to be formally interviewed on Monday, a police source said.

At a special service held in the church next to the school yesterday, priests offered prayers not just for Maguire's family but also for her attacker's.

Simon Beldon, of West Yorkshire police, said the teenage suspect's questioning would not be a quick process. "Given his young age, this is a process which needs to be handled very sensitively, and may take some time to complete," he said.

Asked if he was any clearer on what motivated the attack or nearer to understanding what exactly happened, Beldon said: "It's very early days in what we are trying to achieve, so I really don't want to speculate on that."

Maguire's death is thought to be the first time a teacher has been stabbed to death in a British classroom, and the first killing of a teacher in a school since the 1996 Dunblane massacre.

Police confirmed she had been stabbed in front of pupils.