Death rumour embarrassing and weird, says teacher

A former school teacher said reading a post on Facebook saying he had died was "a bit like being a fly on the wall at your own funeral".

Alan Wright, who worked at a school in Hornchurch, east London, recently discovered the social media comments made in 2008, one of which read "oh man, I can't believe the news about Mr Wright... rest in peace!"

The 74-year-old, who lived in Chelmsford during his 22 years spent at The Albany School, said he was "shocked" to read news of his death, but was "really touched" by the comments.

"At the same time, it was embarrassing and weird sort of reading something which you wouldn't normally find out," he told the BBC.

Wright moved to Staffordshire in 2017 after working as a teacher at The Albany School, now called Hornchurch High School, from 1985 to 2007.

The public Facebook group for The Albany School was set up in 2007 and has been dormant since 2012.

A number of posts feature comments about Wright's alleged death, with one saying "he was a great teacher" and others questioning whether the rumours were true.

Wright said he had tried to reach the person who wrote the original post to "put the record straight" but had been unable to reach them.

The former teacher contacted the BBC via our Your Voice contact forms.

Do you have a story suggestion for Essex? Contact us below.

Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.