Inquest After Couple Died From Gunshot Wounds

An inquest has heard a man shot his wife dead before turning the gun on himself at a farm in Saddington.

Rachel Harrison, 54, was discovered by a family member and a friend in a stable at Sunnydale Farm on the morning of December 15th 2023, having been shot twice in the head and once in the chest by her husband Richard.

Mr Harrison, 59, had moved his wife’s body into the stable after shooting her with a legally-owned rifle and then shot himself in the head with the same weapon.

They were both declared dead by a paramedic and police were called to the property on Smeeton Road just before 11.30am.

The farm in Saddington

A Leicestershire Police investigation discovered that the relationship between Mr and Mrs Harrison had been strained ‘for some years’, but had ‘broken down irretrievably’ in the months leading up to their deaths.

Leicestershire Area Coroner Ivan Cartwright concluded that Mrs Harrison, whose cause of death was the gunshot wound to the head, was unlawfully killed by her husband.

Mr Harrison died as a result of a self-inflicted head injury which was recorded as suicide.

The Coroner said: “In shooting Mrs Harrison, her husband intended to kill or to cause her serious bodily harm.”