A TEACHER who was killed in a suicide bombing in the Persian Gulf has been brought back to Dorset for his funeral.

Jonathan Adams died in Qatar on March 19 when a car bomb was detonated near the British school where he taught.

Mr Adams, who was in his 50s, was directing a production of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night at the time.

His wife, Rosemary, was one of the first to reach him. Twelve others were injured in the blast.

He had been working in Doha for three years, teaching English grammar at the department of drama and arts at Qatar Academy.

The Cambridge graduate had also taught in Sri Lanka and had helped mobilise 20,000 dollars for relief work in Sri Lanka following the Boxing Day tsunami.

But he had strong links with Dorset and the family is well known in Sixpenny Handley where he once owned a house.

His sister, also called Rosemary, lives nearby and his late mother lived in Wimborne St Giles for a while.

Jonathan's brother, Michael, worked for St Giles's farms for a short while.

Mr Adams was a keen student of Islamic culture and civilisation, of which he is said to have had a deep understanding.

Students at the academy are quoted as saying: "We lost a father-figure and a friend."

Noreen Westcott, a colleague from his days at Borden Grammar School in Kent, where he taught for 17 years, said he had tremendous knowledge and had helped many youngsters.

Ms Westcott said he had been close to being hurt by a bombing in Sri Lanka but had died, in a tragic irony, in Qatar which seemed much safer.

There was a private cremation and his ashes were interred yesterday in the churchyard at Sixpenny Handley where his parents are also buried.

A thanksgiving service for his life for friends and colleagues will take place later in the year.

First published: April 12