A former primary school teacher, who was struck off for a ‘chronic and elaborate deception’ involving faking cancer and her own death, has been forced to scrap her dance classes for children after her new venture was exposed.
The Web of Deception in Dundee
Lara Simpson, 26, carried out the astonishing fraud while working at a primary school in Dundee. The deception began in May 2021 as she was about to graduate from Dundee University. Over a two-year period, she convinced staff and pupils she had leukaemia, using props including a wheelchair, wigs, a breathing tube, and even a prosthetic leg.
She created a fake video for the charity Stand Up To Cancer, emailed updates on her fictional treatment to ten-year-old pupils, and told colleagues her cancer was incurable. Simpson even asked a pupil to be her bridesmaid for a wedding she claimed would be in her final months.
The sham reached its peak in March 2023 when she pretended to be her own aunt, emailing colleagues to inform them she had died. Her scheme unravelled months later when she was spotted alive at a running event in the Highlands.
A New Start and a Swift Closure
Despite being struck off the teaching register by the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) earlier this year – a move intended ‘to protect members of the public (in particular, children and young people)’ – Simpson started a new business. She launched LAS Dance Collective, a dance school for adults and children as young as three, using a primary school in Thurso, Caithness, as a venue.
Following exposure by The Scottish Mail on Sunday, Simpson has now cancelled her weekly adult fitness classes and her children’s sessions are no longer bookable. It has also emerged she had been working with the charity Caithness Klics, which supports young carers, but the organisation has confirmed she is no longer involved.
Parental Fury and Council Evasion
A furious parent, whose son attended a Highlands school where Simpson taught, has written to the school and Highland Council demanding answers. “How on earth did she end up being employed in a school with vulnerable children?” the parent asked, highlighting the profound safeguarding failure.
Highland Council has refused to answer direct questions about why a struck-off teacher was permitted to use a council school. A spokeswoman claimed she lacked the ‘authority’ to comment. In a letter, the council stated it was the responsibility of the organisation renting the facility to vet individuals, adding that school lets are reviewed regularly.
The scandal raises serious questions about the communication between regulators, local authorities, and the safeguarding of children in community settings.
