A SCHOOL is in mourning today after a popular teacher died on a skiing trip to Austria.
Jonathan Taylor, an IT teacher, was on a visit to the Austrian Tyrol with staff and students from Christ the King School, in Arnold, when he fell from a wall and hit his head.
The accident happened in the resort of Matrei in the early hours of yesterday morning.
It was the first day of what was due to be a week-long trip. But pupils are now set to return to Nottingham this evening.
A spokesman for the Austrian police told the Post that Mr Taylor had been with a group of four people who had been leaving what he described as a "discotheque" at 3am.
He said Mr Taylor was at the back of the group as they walked along the street in the resort, which is in a valley.
He said the group heard a noise and when they turned around, Mr Taylor was not there.
He had fallen almost four metres from a roadside wall.
Paramedics tried to revive him at the scene but he was pronounced dead in the ambulance.
Mr Taylor, 44, is believed to have been working at the Roman Catholic school for about a year.
He lived in Arnold with his wife.
Next-door neighbours Bill and June Bailey said they were devastated by the news.
Mrs Bailey, 81, said: "He was such a nice, gentle, kind man. "They don't come any nicer than Jonathan. They're a lovely, helpful couple. He was a lovely guy.
"I can't believe it – it's a tragedy. There's not a bad word you could say about him. I never saw or heard him raise his voice. He always had time to help people – he was always interested. I shall miss him.
"He was very handy, always doing something in the garage. It's a very tragic accident and everybody's stunned."
No-one at the school was available for comment yesterday but the news has shocked the close-knit Catholic community in the area.
The Bishop of Nottingham, the Right Reverend Malcolm McMahon, led tributes.
He said: "My thoughts and prayers are with his wife and family as they begin to come to terms with their tragic loss, the pupils whom he was accompanying on their skiing holiday and the entire community of Christ the King School at this difficult time.
"Jonathan will be remembered with affection by many people."
Gedling MP Vernon Coaker added his condolences: "This is an appalling tragedy. My thoughts are with his family and everyone at the school."
It is understood the school's principal, Carlo Cuomo, has flown to Austria and will be returning to the school with the staff and students at 7pm today.
A group of 48 pupils aged 14 to 15 were on the trip.
A Foreign Office spokesman confirmed a British national had died in Austria and that "schoolchildren were being looked after".
