Teacher's Elaborate Hoax Exposed
A primary school teacher who fabricated a terminal cancer diagnosis and subsequently faked her own death is now operating a dance school for young children, according to recent reports. Lara Simpson, 26, orchestrated an intricate deception over two years, convincing her students and colleagues at a Dundee primary school placement that she was dying from leukaemia.
The Web of Lies
Simpson's fabrication began during her teaching placement, where she informed the school she had just months to live. To substantiate her claims, she employed increasingly elaborate tactics. She attended classes using a wheelchair, a prosthetic leg, crutches, breathing tubes, and a wig to portray her 'incurable condition'. The teacher even developed the story further, telling co-workers she planned to get married and inviting them to her non-existent wedding, with one student asked to be a bridesmaid.
The deception escalated in late 2022 when staff and students gathered outside a hospital, believing Simpson was being airlifted there for emergency treatment. By March 2023, she spread the false news of her own death, posing as her own aunt and other relatives via email to confirm the tragic news. She provided forwarding addresses so that gifts and tributes could be sent for her fictitious funeral.
Discovery and Aftermath
The elaborate scheme began to unravel when presents sent to the hospice where Simpson supposedly spent her final months were returned to the senders. Months after her alleged death, she was spotted alive at a community running event. Former colleagues expressed being 'gobsmacked and angry' upon realising the extent of the deception. One stated, 'And now to find out she is still working with children is shocking. This woman should never be allowed to be in charge of children.'
Despite an investigation conducted under anonymity and being struck off the teaching register earlier this year, Simpson has established LAS Dance Collective in Thurso. The school's website advertises recreational ballet classes for children as young as three. Remarkably, the centre is promoted by Highland Council, the same local authority that removed her from its teaching staff after her cancer story was exposed. A council spokesperson declined to comment on staffing matters, citing confidentiality and data protection.
