The headteacher of a private boarding school in Surrey who was shot dead by her husband earlier this year had wanted to leave him, her sister has revealed.
Emma Pattison and her daughter Lettie, 7, were found dead at their home in the grounds of Epsom College on February 5, along with Mrs Pattison’s husband, George Pattison, who is understood to have murdered them before killing himself.
A firearm legally registered to Mr Pattison was found at the scene, Surrey Police previously confirmed.
The trio were found dead after the headteacher made a distressed call to her sister Deborah Kirk.
In the days after her sister’s death Mrs Kirk began writing her thoughts and feelings down in “the fog of severe shock” to help deal with the “most inhumane of tragedies”.
In passages published in the Sunday Times, Mrs Kirk revealed that she told her sister she felt the relationship was “abusive” and she believed her sister was going to leave the relationship.
She wrote: “It seems that it was only when external, professional voices used the word abuse that she was able to listen, to have the perspective she needed.
“When someone entirely impartial called this what it was, the lens shifted and she realised that the damage would be in staying, not leaving.
“And she triumphed! She was going to be a success story, a survivor! I saw her the weekend before this nightmare and looked forward to having my sister back.”
In another passage she wrote: “I am trying to figure out what the lesson is here. It does not, for us, lie in ensuring they decide to leave — because she had, courageously, got that far.”
Mrs Pattison became Epsom’s first female head in September 2022 after six years as headteacher of Croydon High School in south London.
Mr Pattison was a chartered accountant who was director of a management consultancy called Tanglewood 2016, according to Companies House.
Following their deaths, Mrs Pattison and Lettie’s loved ones said paid tribute to the “inseparable” mother and daughter.
“To see the esteem in which Emma is held by all who knew her is an enormous comfort,” they said.
“She was everything one could hope for in a daughter, sister, mother, wife, friend, teacher and so much more. We are an extremely close family and family was at the centre of Emma and Lettie’s universe.
“The Epsom College community had become part of that universe for them both.
“Seven-year-old Lettie was Emma’s pride and joy: an adorable, vibrant little girl with a compelling curiosity, a heart-melting smile and an intellect beyond her years.
“The two of them were inseparable and we take comfort in that they will remain so.
“Emma had a warm, welcoming smile and sparkling, blue eyes, full of optimism. Over the last 11 days we’ve noticed the sky has been bright blue, with at times a warm glow of pink.”
