19 January 2023 , 13:31
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A couple and their dog were found dead as bailiffs came to evict them over failed 'space flight' venture, an inquest has heard.
John and Angela Richardson were found with gunshot wounds to their chests in the woodlands near their home.
Mr Richardson, a motoring journalist best known as Clive and Mrs Richardson, a former company director, were found by police at 10.50am on June 8 last year after an enforcement officer and landowner came to evict them.
The couple from Goring Heath in Oxfordshire had failed to pay their £4,500 per month rent at the Bensgrove Farm property after struggling with financial difficulties.
The couple were found with gunshot wounds to their chests in the woodlands near their Oxfordshire home (Getty Images/iStockphoto)This was partly due to a failed business venture they started in 2010.
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The pair, who had been married since 1986, decided to take over a space transport company.
Spaceflight Academy Ltd wanted to provide commercial Spaceflight training as well as ‘adventure experiences’ to the public.
The pair were looking for a £75 million investment for the company which never came.
They managed to obtain an £84,000 investment, a government loan of £21,000 and Mr Richardson, 74, took £45,000 from his pension.
Before their deaths Angela Richardson told a family member she was ‘desperate’ and had ‘no plans or future’. (Getty Images)At the time of their deaths, the couple were expecting a £75,000 loan but were struggling to obtain a guarantor.
A family member of Mr Richardson told the inquest the writer claimed he was ‘asset rich and cash poor’ and had faced financial difficulties frequently throughout his life.
In 2017, the couple moved in with a family member of Mrs Richardson, 64, for 19 months due to facing a previous eviction.
During this time, it was alleged that Mr Richardson said he if he ever had to live in social housing, he ‘would commit suicide’.
The landowner found a note which read 'We’re in the woods. Sorry it came to this. Phone the police.' (Getty Images)A few days before their deaths, Mrs Richardson told a family member that she was ‘desperate’ and had ‘no plans or future’.
She said she had ‘no energy to keep fighting’ and that they had ‘come to the end of the road’.
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On the day the couple were due to be evicted, the landowner found a note pinned to an inner glass door which read: “We’re in the woods. Sorry it came to this. Phone the police.”
Two other notes were also found individually signed by each person.
A post-mortem report for the couple concluded they both died from a gunshot wound to the chest.
The inquest pathologist could not conclude the order of the shootings (Getty Images)The pathologist in the inquest could not conclude whether one person had shot the other and then themselves or if they individuals shot themselves.
It also couldn’t be concluded in which order the couple and the dog were shot.
Mr Richardson owned the shotgun and a licence legally for sports shooting.
Assistant coroner Nicholas Graham concluded their deaths were a suicide.
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