A “TROUBLED” Suffolk man died in hospital after he turned a shot gun on himself, an inquest has heard.

Lizzie Parry

A “TROUBLED” Suffolk man died in hospital after he turned a shot gun on himself, an inquest has heard.

Paul Gooderham, of Wickham Skeith, near Eye, died on October 21, 2008 at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge.

At the inquest in Lowestoft on Tuesday Greater Suffolk coroner Peter Dean said the cause of death was sepsis due to a massive facial injury, the result of a shot gun injury to the face.

Police officers found Mr Gooderham at the rear of his former home on The Street in Wickham Skeith, still alive but with serious head injuries following the incident on Monday, September 29.

Mr Gooderham, 46, a former HGV driver, had been separated from his wife Donna and the couple were in the process of divorcing when he visited the family home on the day of the incident.

Mrs Gooderham said he had become very distressed and had threatened to kill himself.

Police officers were called to the property at 2.18pm that day by the mother-of-seven after her estranged husband had declared his intention.

The Cambridgeshire police helicopter and a specialist firearms officer were called to assist at the scene, where officers found Mr Gooderham.

Dr Dean said: “At the rear of the house by the conservatory they [police] could see a shot gun, a body and a large pool of blood.”

Mr Gooderham was given first aid at the scene before being taken to Ipswich Hospital by the East Anglian Air Ambulance.

On October, 2 he was transferred to Addenbrooke's Hospital's intensive care unit where doctors were considering reconstruction surgery before he died three weeks later.

Dr Dean said: “Recovery was progressing to the extent that facial reconstruction was being considered but sadly on October 21 he was found unresponsive and resuscitation was unsuccessful.

“The cause of death was given as sepsis due to massive facial trauma due to a shot gun injury to the face.

“Paul survived for a considerable amount of time with some intensive treatment but sadly he developed complications from this and sadly passed away from those complications.”

Dr Dean recorded a narrative verdict that Mr Gooderham died from complications following a self-inflicted shot gun injury.

Speaking following the coroner's verdict, Mrs Gooderham, who had five children with her estranged husband and two from a previous relationship, spoke of her sadness at the tragedy.

“I am very sad that things ended the way they did, there was just no need for the tragedy to happen. His children still needed him.

“His past had finally caught up with him, once I knew about the affairs there was never going to be a future for us. We were in the process of getting divorced at the time.

“He was such a likeable person; he would do anything for anybody. He provided for us, we had a lovely home, and I trusted and believed in him, there was nothing to suggest the double life he was leading.”

The 48-year-old added: “He was a very troubled man, in my mind it was a cowardly act. Our youngest son is nearly eight and he thought the world of his daddy. He loved all his kids. It is difficult for them to understand, they don't know all the ins and outs of it.”