Suspended primary school headteacher found dead

A headteacher suspended over the management of her primary school has been found dead in the back of her burnt-out car, after an apparent suicide.

Nassim Akhtar, who had five children, was said to have become depressed and anxious about money after education managers suspended her pending an investigation into the management of Cheetwood Community Primary School, in Manchester's Cheetham district. She had joined the school last September and was suspended in early November.

Ms Akhtar was found dead last week, in the back of the family's people carrier, hours after telling her husband, Jameel,she was going out. He said: "Her last words were, 'I'm going for a drive, can you pick up the girls from school? I'll be back soon.'"

Family and friends of Mrs Akhtar, who lived in Brierfield, east Lancashire, said she had been determined to make her new school a success. "She was very happy when she started as headteacher," said a friend, Mohammed Feroz. "She was a committed daughter who looked after her children, family and mother."

Mrs Akhtar was previously a teacher at Walter Street Primary School near her home in Brierfield, where her three eldest children are pupils. Ms Akhtar's representative from the National Association of Headteachers had been due to meet with Manchester City Council's education managers this week to discuss her appeal against her suspension. A post mortem examination revealed she died of smoke inhalation.