Fear of burglars 'drove major to suicide'

A retired major shot himself after becoming "tormented" by the fear of burglars at his Cotswold manor house, a coroner has been told.

Major Timothy Clarke, 46, was " paranoid" with worry about intruders at his country estate after earlier thefts. Major Clarke, who had run the family estate since retiring from the Army, shot himself in a field at his farm in April this year.

His wife Jean said in a statement to the inquest in Cirencester that she found a suicide note on the bed.

"He was tormented by concerns that the premises would be burgled," she said. "I believe that his illness was sudden - something snapped inside him." Police confirmed that a number of items had been stolen from the house in Chedworth, near Cheltenham, in an earlier burglary.

The major's uncle, James Clarke, said: "He was reserved and full of insecurities. He wanted everything to be orderly. He avoided parties and became increasingly paranoid about security."

He told the inquest his nephew had been educated at Eastbourne before going to Sandhurst for officer training. The major had been in the Gloucestershire Regiment and had seen service all over the world. Verdict: suicide.