Tragedy of OAP who shot himself dead

A VERY SICK man shot himself dead so he would not become a burden on his partner, an inquest has heard. Peter Moverly, 77 was found with a handgun on his stomach at the home he shared with his partner in Bexhill in December 2005.

He had been told by a doctor two months earlier his brain condition he was suffering from was untreatable and his symptoms would deteriorate.

Coroner Alan Craze recorded a verdict of suicide.

Mr Moverley did not died instantly, and was found still alive by his partner Kay Collier the day after he shot himself.

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Mr Collier, who had known Mr Moverly for 53 years before he moved into her bungalow after she was widowed, described him as being a "bit down in the dumps" the evening before his death.

The next morning Mrs Collier said his bedroom door was wedged shut with his wheelchair on the other side, but after forcing it open she found her partner lying on the floor gasping for breath but unconscious.

Mrs Collier said she 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 in St Leonards. A post-mortem examination gave his cause of death as handgun injury to the brain.

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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."