A teacher who deceived students and colleagues by faking her own death and claiming to have terminal cancer is now running a dance school for children, according to reports.
Lara Simpson, 26, told a primary school in Dundee where she was on placement that she had leukaemia. She later claimed she had just months to live and even posed as her aunt to confirm her own death.
Simpson sent emails pretending to be relatives, providing forwarding addresses for gifts and tributes for a fictitious funeral. She attended classes in a wheelchair with a prosthetic leg, and later used breathing tubes, crutches, and a wig to support her story.
In late 2022, students and staff waited outside a hospital believing Simpson was being airlifted there. By March 2023, she claimed to have died. Suspicion arose when gifts to a hospice were returned, and she was later seen at a community running event.
Despite being struck off the teaching register earlier this year, Simpson now runs LAS Dance Collective in Thurso, offering ballet classes for children from age three. The school is promoted by Highland Council, which previously removed her as a teacher.
A former colleague said the school was 'gobsmacked and angry' and that Simpson should never be allowed to work with children again. Highland Council declined to comment, citing confidentiality.
