Teacher 'raped, murdered and left in dumpster'

15/10/2013

Murdered' Lauren Paterson with her boyfriend James Grima.

A British teacher is feared murdered after she went missing during a night out in Qatar's popular nightclub scene.

Friends of Lauren Patterson, who had just flown to the Middle Eastern country after attending her grandmother's funeral, claim the 24-year-old had been raped and murdered, the Daily Mail reported. Those close to her said she had told them she was being taken to the wrong house by a group of men.

The young woman was last seen by a friend with her ex-boyfriend and another Qatari man in a nightclub at the five-star La Cigale hotel in Doha

Though what happened next is still not clear.

It was claimed on Twitter that Patterson had been murdered.

"Lauren was raped and brutally murdered," a friend close to her said.

"Her body was found in the dumpsters behind La Cigale."

They also claim her ex-boyfriend had flown to Saudi Arabia, while the other man had been detained by Qatari police with a bruised lip.

The arrested man, a friend of Patterson's ex-boyfriend, told police his lip injury was from an altercation with a taxi driver.

He also claimed that Patterson had been dropped off in front of the wrong house by a taxi.

The man was later released after police searched his apartment.

Current boyfriend James Grima mourned the suspected death of his girlfriend in touching messages on a Facebook page set up to try and find her.

"She was a truly remarkable girl, my rock, always there for everyone. I know she's in heaven now in her Daddy's arms," he wrote.

‘Rest In Peace babe ... I will always look up at the sky cause you always were the brightest star and always will be.

‘I love you so much babe, I really do and I can’t get over the fact that you were taken away so cruelly, it really breaks my heart to think about it. I know you’re watching over us, wherever you are, and I know that I will meet you again one day."

He had earlier launched an online appeal to find the missing woman, but revealed a few hours later she had been found dead.

Her mother, Alison, also posted a tribute on the page: "Thank you so much to everyone for all their wonderful words about Lauren."

A spokesperson for the British Foreign Office said: A spokesman said: "We are aware of a British national, Lauren Patterson, reported missing in Qatar."

‘We are providing the family with consular assistance.’