Epsom College appoints new headteacher

Mark Lascelles has been selected as the next headteacher of Epsom College

A school where the former head and her family were found dead earlier this year has appointed a new headteacher.

Mark Lascelles has been selected by Epsom College to assume the role in September 2024, following on from Sir Anthony Seldon.

Mr Seldon was appointed to the role in February following the death of Emma Pattison, who died at a property on school grounds.

Mrs Pattison, 45, was found alongside her daughter Lettie, 7, and husband George, 39, who is believed to have killed them both.

In a statement shared to the school website, Mr Seldon praised Mr Lascelles' "deep experience, great empathy and high intellect".

"Epsom is going to have a very exciting future indeed under him," he added.

Mr Lascelles, 54, said he had not been looking for a move "however the opportunity of leading Epsom is too tempting to pass up".

Emma Pattison, 45, her husband George, 39, and daughter Lettie were found dead at their home on school grounds

An inquest into the deaths in March found Mrs Pattison died of shock, haemorrhage and shotgun wounds.

The court heard Mrs Pattison had been shot in the abdomen and chest, and that Lettie had died of a shotgun wound to the head.

A separate inquest for George Pattison found he died from a shotgun wound to the head.

He is believed to have shot them both at their home before killing himself.

Mrs Pattison is understood to have called a relative some time late on the night of the killing, but by the time the family member arrived, all three of them were dead.