Grieving solicitor’s shotgun death
Scales of Justice
THE tragic circumstances that led to a solicitor father-of-three killing himself, were revealed at a Sheffield inquest.
Ian Sanderson, 45, of Houghton Road, Thurnscoe, had lost two wives to cancer, deputy coroner Donald Coutts-Wood was told on Monday.
Mr Sanderson’s close friend Neil Priestley told how the Huddersfield solicitor was divorced from his first wife, with whom he had three children. His first wife died at about the time Mr Sanderson remarried, in 2006.
His second wife Emma was diagnosed with cancer “a couple of years” after that, the court heard. Her husband initially nursed her at home and the 32-year old died in November last year.
Mr Priestley said his friend had been made redundant by a firm that was “less than considerate to his needs” after he had to take time off to care for Emma. Mr Sanderson then lived alone in his terraced home. He possessed rifles and a shotgun, all fully licensed.
The day before he died, Ian spoke to Neil Priestley. He had been upset, but that was “normal” for him at the time. Mr Priestley said his friend would become “battered by emotion” during conversations.
At tea-time on March 24, Mr Priestley was contacted by Alison Wyer, who ran a cleaning firm of which Ian Sanderson was a client. Stuart Wyer told how his wife found a note at Mr Sanderson’s home. Following the note’s instruction, he went to an outbuilding where Mr Sanderson was lying “propped up in a corner”. A gun pointed to his chest. Notes he left told how he wanted to end his life.
Mr Coutts-Wood recorded a verdict that Ian Sanderson took his own life.
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Saturday 25 May 2013
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