Pensioners suicide for love of his partner

Peter Moverly, 77, was found with a handgun on his stomach at the home he shared with his partner in Bexhill, two days before Christmas last year.

He had been told two months earlier his brain condition was untreatable and he would get worse.

Mr Moverly did not die instantly, and was found still alive by his partner Kay Collier the day after.

Mrs Collier had known Mr Moverly for 53 years before he moved into her Pebsham bungalow after she was widowed. She described him as "a bit down in the dumps" the evening before the tragedy.

The next morning Mrs Collier said his bedroom door was wedged shut with his wheelchair on the other side.

After forcing it open, she found her partner lying on the floor gasping for breath but unconscious.

She thought he had suffered a heart attack. Mrs Collier was aware the retired printer had owned guns in the past but had insisted on him not bringing any weapons when he moved into her bungalow.

Attempts to revive Mr Moverly were made but he was pronounced dead at the Conquest Hospital. A post-mortem examination gave his cause of death as handgun injury to the brain.

Mr Craze told Mrs Collier: "I can only think his motive was purely kind in that he didn't want to land you with the job of progressively having to take care of him.

"Ultimately, the reason why he did this was out of pure kindness to you."

He recorded a suicide verdict at the inquest held in Hastings on Wednesday afternoon.