A FARMER who was suffering with Motor Neurone's Disease shot himself with a homemade gun, an inquest heard. 

The widow of Christopher John Case said the 56-year-old had started to refer to their home as a 'prison' after being diagnosed in July 2018. 

He died at the age of 56 at his home on Heather Bank in Swarthmoor near Ulverston on August 3 2020. 

The coroner’s court in Cockermouth was told the gunshot was self-inflicted and that the suicide has been undertaken with a homemade ‘slam gun’. 

Mr Case’s wife Janice Case told the hearing the disease had a detrimental effect on him. “When the doctor asked him if there was anything he could do, Chris said he could get him a loaded gun,” she said. 

“He later started to deteriorate in health and struggled to walk and get in and out of his tractor. 

“He would refuse to see friends and said he didn’t want anyone to see him like this. 

“He is used to being out on the land as a farmer and started to refer to our home as prison. 

“He had a dark sense of humour.” 

Mrs Case said she went to pick her mother up on August 3 and when she came back, she could not find her husband. 

The garage was blocked off and when she found him inside after unlocking the door, he was surrounded by a pool of blood. 

The court was told paramedics attended the scene and pronounced Mr Case dead. 

“I realised he had got everything in order,” Mrs Case said.

“He had changed his personal account into a joint account and had bought me a car a few weeks before. 

“He also changed his will in June 2020.” 

Gareth Paul Telford, head of the Firearms Operations Unit in Cumbria at the time, said: “The contents found at the scene were consistent with three separate parts of a homemade firearm.” 

Coroner Dr Nicholas Shaw said: “It is hard to criticise him for doing this. I think his motive is quite understandable. 

“The conclusion that I make is that this is a suicide.”