AN alcoholic killed himself with a shotgun months after seeking help with his addiction, an inquest heard.

Anthony Morrison was found with a gunshot wound to his head by his wife, at their home, Doe Cottage, Easthorpe, on January 29.

An inquest was told the 57-year-old had sought help from his GP for alcoholism only months before his death.

Lorna Tagliavini, assistant deputy coroner, told the hearing Mr Morrison had a long-running alcohol problem.

Referring to toxicolgy tests carried out after his death, she said: “Mr Morrison had a high concentration of alcohol detected in his blood which, for comparison purposes, was three- and-a-half times the legal limit for driving.”

The coroner ruled a verdict of suicide.

The hearing was told his wife, Linda, returned to the family home to find her husband dead in the garden.

Both barrels of the shotgun had been fired and a note, addressed to his wife, was found in the house A post-mortem examination at Colchester General Hospital confirmed the cause of death to be a shotgun wound to the head.

It also revealed Mr Morrison had heart disease and an alcohol-related fatty liver.