DETECTIVES investigating the death of a former Harrow teacher crushed to death in a rubbish cart are not ruling out the possibility he was murdered.

Scott Williams, 35, was found dead at a Newhaven rubbish tip on Monday morning, just over a day after he went missing on a boozy night out in Brighton.

Horrified workers spotted his body in the crusher and alerted police, who launched an investigation to find out how the popular maths teacher was killed.

Detective Inspector Phil Mays, of Sussex Police’s major crime branch, said: “Initially we treated it as a murder inquiry. As a result of the post-mortem findings we are now treating it as an unexplained death.

“The only person who can make a judgement on that is the coroner.

“We are now carrying out a coroner’s investigation. It is always open to change if we find anything out as part of that investigation.”

Mr Williams worked at Harrow High School between 2002 and 2006, becoming a firm favourite among staff and pupils for his energy, enthusiasm, and love of sports.

Born in New Zealand, he moved to London in 2000 and was planning to become a British citizen.

His family have spoken out about his death during the last 24 hours, saying they suspect foul play may have led to his death.

His mother, Marion, is due to fly to London to meet up with Mr Williams' brother Tony, and both have told reporters they do not believe the teacher would have slept in a bin and they want police to investigate further.

Police have been piecing together Mr Williams' final movements on the night out in Brighton, where he had gone with a friend to visit his 37-year-old brother.

Mr Williams had left his brother to go drinking with a friend in central Brighton, but left his friend at around 1am. He was spotted with a girl on his arm at 2.30am, and was filmed on CCTV on the seafront at 3am.

At this stage, cops are working on the theory Mr Williams then got into the wheelie bin to shelter from the rain, having nowhere else to stay.

The bin was collected at around 6.30am the next day and taken away to the dump.