Richard Haddock

I am Alison Longhorn, Area Coroner for the coroner area of the County of Devon, Plymouth & Torbay.

On 31 st May 2023 I commenced an investigation into the death of Richard  Haddock, 66 years of age. The investigation concluded at the end of the inquest on 24 th November 2025. The conclusion of the inquest was suicide.

Richard Haddock was a shotgun certificate holder. In February 2020, a member of the public contacted the police as Mr. Haddock’s wife was requesting that  they seized his guns for safekeeping; Mr. Haddock was suffering from stress  due to a civil legal dispute, and his wife was concerned that he would use the  guns to ‘hurt himself or her’. The police duly seized the guns, and a suitability review took place. In the  intervening period Mr. Haddock’s certificate was also due for renewal and he  submitted his renewal application. The shotgun certificate remained under review for some time; information was  sought from his GP which did not note any concerns, but the police were aware  that Mr. Haddock had a significant civil court judgment made against him which  resulted in the family farm being sold. On 7 th November 2022, the police  returned Mr. Haddock’s firearms to him. On 25 th June 2023, Mr. Haddock used his shotgun  [REDACTED]. During the hearing, evidence was heard that Mr. Haddock had been charged with several criminal offences by the Environment Agency and  had entered guilty pleas at Crown Court just days before his death. His wife  explained that he was very concerned about receiving a sentence of  imprisonment. Despite the fact that the Environment Agency had followed the  correct procedure to notify the police of their prosecution, and it was showing on Mr. Haddock’s PNC record on 11 th October 2021 (before the firearms were  returned to him), the inquest was told that the Firearms Licensing Department  were completely unaware of the prosecution. [REDACTED] giving evidence, told the court that had the Department been aware of the prosecution, it is likely that  the guns would not have been returned to him at that time.

During the course of the inquest the evidence revealed matters giving rise to concern. In my opinion there is a risk that future deaths could occur unless  action is taken. In the circumstances it is my statutory duty to report to you. The MATTERS OF CONCERN are as follows. (1) The police process which should have ensured that the Firearms Licensing  Department was notified of the Environment Agency’s prosecution of Mr.  Haddock failed to be effective (2) The offences with which Mr. Haddock had been charged by the Environment Agency were correctly placed onto Mr. Haddock’s PNC record on 11 th October  2021 – a year before the final decision was made to return his shotgun to him in November 2022. The Firearms Licensing Department had not checked his PNC  record since 4 th August 2021 (more than a year before the final decision to  return his guns was made) and were therefore unaware of the prosecution.

In my opinion action should be taken to prevent future deaths and I believe you and your organization have the power to take such action.