A WARPED Scottish teacher who was struck off after faking a cancer diagnosis, a wedding and her own death, is still tutoring children.
The twisted woman, who taught at a Dundee primary, fabricated a leukaemia diagnosis and continued to spin a sick web of lies over a period of two years.
We previously told how she turned up to class with crutches, a wheelchair, an oxygen tube up her nose and a prosthetic leg to keep up the cruel ruse.
The carefully constructed sham saw her divulge harrowing tales of bogus operations and made-up stints in intensive care to stunned colleagues and pupils.
She even claimed “doctors” had given her just six months to live, but her lies came to a head when she posed as her own aunt in an email to staff, claiming she’d lost her battle with cancer.
The General Teaching Council Scotland (GTCS) allowed her identity to remain under wraps, but earlier this month told how she was banned from the classroom after admitting the whole ploy was a sham.
At the time, the teaching watchdog branded the con a “chronic and elaborate deception”.
But The Mail on Sunday has now revealed that the teacher has been named as Lara Simpson after she was reportedly discovered to still be tutoring children.
To find out she is still working with children is shocking. This woman should never be allowed to be in charge of children
Former colleague
The 26-year-old, from Thurso, in the Highlands, is believed to be running a lucrative dance school for kids as young as three, with some classes taking place in a primary school.
And she is also reported to have continued teaching in mainstream schools for almost two years – despite faking her own death.
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Ms Simpson was about to graduate with a first-class degree in Primary Education from Dundee University in May 2021 when she first spun her sick web of lies.
She had been on placement at a school in Dundee during her placement and told colleagues she’d been hit with a shock leukaemia diagnosis and was starting chemo.
In the months that followed, she even shaved her head – claiming it was due to treatment – to back up the lie.
She then told staff the cancer had spread and, by June, said surgeons had cut out part of her lung.
By September, she was claiming she was going under the knife again – this time to have an entire lung removed.
Colleagues couldn’t reach her for two weeks as she insisted she was in intensive care.
And throughout the deceit, she posed as her own mum, firing off bogus “health updates” to worried staff.
By January 2022, she was telling colleagues that despite getting on a trial for experimental drugs, the acute lymphoblastic leukaemia was incurable and she had just six months to live.
She also claimed the disease had spread to her legs and she needed an amputation.
Someone recognised her at the park run, but thought ‘surely not’ as she was meant to have one leg, not two… and she was meant to be dead
A source
It’s unclear when she ditched classroom duties, but the GTC ruling shows she dragged students into the sick hoax.
She even turned up at school to talk about her fake ordeal – arriving on different days with crutches, a wheelchair, oxygen tubes up her nose and a prosthetic leg.
In early 2022, she told coworkers she planned to marry in her final months, asked a pupil to be a bridesmaid and even sent her a dress.
Pupils and staff dropped off gifts at a hospice where she claimed to be receiving care, and even waved to an air ambulance she said she was travelling in.
She also circulated a Stand Up 2 Cancer video and another titled “I Miss My Life”, in which she falsely spoke about living with the disease.
And on March 18, 2023, whilst pretending to be her aunt, she broke the false news to fellow teachers that she had died.
‘UNFIT TO TEACH’
Testimonies by former colleagues were heard by the GTC Fitness to Teach in January this year as part of their investigation into Ms Simpson.
It also reviewed emails, cards, screenshots and videos sent by Ms Simpson.
A summary of the evidence reads: “The Teacher admits the allegations, which, in essence, show a pattern of behaviour on her part between May 2021 and May 2023, whereby she falsely made out that she was seriously and terminally ill, and made numerous representations to this effect to numerous individuals, including teaching staff and pupils.
“This was a chronic and elaborate deception, which she knew to be false throughout her perpetuation of it, and to which end she went to significant lengths to enhance its prospect of being believed, including by filming and sending videos of herself wearing breathing apparatus that she did not need, by using a wheelchair that she did not need, and by sending emails while pretending it was her mother who was their author.”
The GTC concluded: “The teacher had fallen significantly short of the standards for a registered teacher and was unfit to teach.”
One former colleague told The Mail on Sunday: “Everyone who knows her has been left gobsmacked and angry over her complete disregard for the truth.
“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.”
Parents and children at the dance school were unaware that Ms Simpson had devised the cruel ruse and lied to colleagues in Dundee.
After posing as her aunt and telling coworkers she was dead, she moved back to Thurso and joined a local Parkrun group in 2023.
But a former colleague spotted photos of her on the group’s local Facebook page three months later and reported her to GCTS, which quickly launched a two-year investigation.
A source told The Mail on Sunday: “Someone recognised her at the park run, but thought ‘surely not’ as she was meant to have one leg, not two…and she was meant to be dead”.
Everyone who knows her has been left gobsmacked and angry over her complete disregard for the truth
Former colleague
A temporary restriction order was issued against Ms Simpson in March 2024. While this doesn’t stop teachers from being able to teach, it prevents them from moving to another school during the investigation.
This means that while it was ongoing, she worked for the Highland Council after completing her probation year.
She only left her role after she was struck off, but she was found to have started a dance school called LAS Dance Collective in the following months.
It is understood that her classes have been operating since August, offering sessions for adults and children in the Thurso area.
Her website states that she “has attended Child Wellbeing and Protection in Sport”, is “fully insured and PVG checked”, and is “about to undertake Child Welfare and Protection Officer Training”, according to The Mail on Sunday.
Ms Simpson told The Mail on Sunday, “That’s not me” when confronted about her actions, adding, “No comment” when asked about her web of lies to colleagues in Dundee.
The GTCS also said it could not comment on individual cases, but added that revealing the teacher’s identity could “undermine the fairness and integrity of the regulatory process” and “cause real harm to both children and adults”.
Highland Council declined to comment on Ms Simpson running dance classes, but any mention of her sessions held at a local primary school was taken down from the school’s social media pages.
