Former world champion Shaun Murphy has opened up on the horrendous bullying that forced him to leave school as a teen.
Murphy was born in Harlow and grew up in Irthlingborough. It had been previously reported that he was home-schooled but, speaking to Eurosport, the 2005 snooker champion explained how sport was not the reason he left school. "Most people think I left school to play snooker, that wasn't the case. I left school because I would have been killed at school and I couldn't have stood another day there."
"I was left for dead in the humanities block toilets on the second, penultimate day of year nine as a 13-year-old. It wasn't the place for me."
"Most people think I left school to play snooker... that's not the case... I left school because I would have been killed"
Shaun Murphy's extraordinary account of bullying pic.twitter.com/lDpzFFuoGT
— Eurosport UK (@Eurosport_UK) April 26, 2019
Murphy sent a message to anyone in a similar situation: "You got to speak out and get help, You got to shine a light on these assholes. I'd love to say at 36 I have forgotten, but I haven't. And I never will."