A physics teacher at Marlborough College hanged himself after being sacked for ‘inappropriate conduct’ during an exchange trip to Malaysia
John Wright taught for a decade at the £60,000-a-year school, one of the most prestigious independents in the country which counts Kate Middleton among former pupils.
It’s understood that Mr Wright was sacked following allegations that his behaviour was inappropriate during the trip during the spring half term holiday.
The 54-year-old was found by his distraught wife Rachel at the family home in the early evening of November 3 having apparently taken his own life.
An inquest into his death opened last week at Wiltshire Coroners Court and gave his cause of death as asphyxiation with compression of the neck structures by a ligature.
The inquest was adjourned to a later date.
It’s understood Mr Wright’s bereaved family are unhappy with the disciplinary experience he went through.
A source close to the family said: ‘The way John was treated was outrageous.’
Mr Wright was sacked following an annual 17-day exchange trip to the college’s sister school in the Far East called Marlborough College Malaysia in which 29 pupils from the Wiltshire school participated.
Following an internal investigation into what had happened on the Malaysia trip and disciplinary hearing he was dismissed during the summer.
This came after several allegations over his conduct during the trip were found to be proven against him.
This finding was then upheld when Mr Wright unsuccessfully appealed against the outcome.
Mr Wright lived with his wife and two children just a ten-minute walk away from the college, which is the UK’s largest co-educational boarding school attended by around 1,000 domestic and international pupils.
A source told The Daily Mail: ‘It’s not quite clear to us what John was sacked for, but it hit him really hard. We’ve heard it was for inappropriate comments, but I’ve been told that most of these were innocuous.
‘This is all part of a stricter safeguarding regime at Marlborough and staff are genuinely concerned about their careers and there is a sense of mistrust and fear amongst them. They are horrified at what’s happened because John was an outstanding physics teacher.’
The source added: ‘The speculation is that Prince George is coming to Marlborough and the College hierarchy are concerned about the damage John’s death could have on its reputation.’
Marlborough College refused to comment.
A Wiltshire Police spokesperson described the incident as ‘a sudden death’ with no suspicious circumstances.
Officers reportedly remained on scene at Mr Wright’s home for several hours but had left by around midnight.
Mr Wright’s wife is also believed to work as a teacher and according to social media, the couple previously lived in New Zealand before returning to the UK around a decade ago.
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ROT IN HELL
Toor
Many of my cohorts were subject to severe racism from this person in Marlborough Malaysia during the exchange. He had apparently made appauling comments to persons of chinese and indian origin. Someone in a position of trust, such as a teacher should never do such an action.