Tabitha Wilson
Emma Pattison, recently appointed head of the prestigious Epsom College, has been found dead alongside her husband and daughter in a suspected murder-suicide.
The bodies of the headteacher, 45, her husband, George, 39, and their seven-year-old daughter Lettie were discovered in the early hours of Sunday 5 February, on the grounds of the school.
Pattison had been working as headteacher at the private school since September last year, following a six-year period as head at Croydon High School.
Her husband, George, who is suspected to have killed his wife and daughter before committing suicide, had been working as a chartered accountant and was the director of a management consultancy firm called Tanglewood 2016.
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The BBC has reported that Emma Pattison had made a distressed phone call to a relative late on Saturday evening, but by the time the family member arrived, all three were deceased.
Emergency services were alerted following reports of gunshots near the family’s home. In a statement, Surrey Police said: ‘A firearm was found at the scene and has been recovered by officers, however, causes of death will not be confirmed until post-mortems have been completed later this week’.
The police have confirmed that the firearm recovered from the residence was licensed to George Pattison and that they had visited Mr Pattison on the 2nd of February to check the details of his new address, as is routine for those holding a firearms license in the UK.
Rumours of a firing range on the site being an area of interest in the case were shut down by Surrey Police, who stated that they can ‘confirm this range does not form part of our scene or our inquiries’, and to suggest otherwise would be ‘inaccurate’.
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The chair of the college’s board of governors, Dr Alastair Wells, said that the news of the tragedy had been met with ‘utter shock and disbelief’. The school is focusing on the welfare of their students and staff, with support being offered to those who may need it.
Emma Pattison had spoken of joining the school in a pupils-led Epsom Insight podcast recorded in December, saying that her family had been through ‘big changes’, but that it had been ‘wonderful’, and that the college had been ‘so supportive’.
The inquiry into the deaths is ongoing.
Featured image courtesy of David Howard via Flickr. Image license found here. No changes have been made to this image.
Tabitha Wilson
Tabitha is currently a reporter for Newsquest, and was previously an MA Journalism student at Sheffield University. She has worked as a maritime journalist in the past, and studied politics at Durham University. She enjoys writing about music, culture, and travel.