Tributes to 'fun-loving' Kingsbury teacher (From Harrow Times)

Tributes to 'fun-loving' Kingsbury teacher

1:21pm Monday 20th July 2009 in News By Tristan Kirk

FRIENDS and family of a man crushed to death after a night out in Brighton today paid tribute to him at at the Kingsbury school where he taught.

Scott Williams died on Sunday, July 12, in the back of a rubbish truck after going to sleep in a wheelie bin.

Dozens of people turned out to a specially arranged service in the yard of the Stag Lane Pupil Referral Unit, in Kingsbury, where Scott had been teaching since January this year.

His brother Tony, 37, paid tribute to the well-loved teacher, who he said “lived life to the maximum”.

He said: “He lived over here for the last nine years, and he had great memories of all the people he had met.

“He lived life to the maximum. If anyone asked him to go to a concert or a festival, he was up for it. He wouldn't turn anyone down.

“It is sad to see him go like this. I'd love to bring him back, but he will be missed by his whole family.”

New Zealander Scott, 35, was a trained maths and PE teacher who had worked in various schools in north west London and was planning to apply for citizenship to stay in Britain permanently.

An avid sports fan, Scott trained as a swimmer from an early age and was an enthusiastic rugby coach for pupils at Harrow High School when he worked there between 2002 and 2006.

Friends who spoke at the memorial service this morning paid tribute to Scott's enthusiasm for life.

Rob Pinniger, 33, who lived with Scott for the last two-and-a-half years in Willesden Green, said: “He was such a positive influence to be around, to everybody who met him.

“He will always be in my thoughts. I am proud to have known him in the way that I did and that I could call him my friend.”

Pupils from the educational unit in Stag Lane have made a poster, which was displayed at the memorial service saying goodbye to the teacher they fondly nicknamed, “custard man”.

Jan Fullwood, director of Brent Supply Teaching Service, said: “Scott was warm and fun loving and had enormous energy and charm.

“He was an excellent teacher who made a real difference to the lives of the pupils he taught and he was well-liked and respected by all those who knew him.”

Police are still investigating Scott's death, but it is believed he left a pub in Brighton after a night out with friends and was last spotted on the seafront.

It is thought he climbed into the bin to shelter from the rain, having nowhere to stay, and did not wake up when the bin was collected at 6.30am the next day.