Coroner warns extra deaths will happen if UK’s gun legal guidelines aren’t modified

A coroner has warned more deaths will occur unless changes are made to gun licensing laws following the murder of a boarding school headteacher at the hands of her coercive and controlling husband.

George Pattison shot his wife, Emma, 45, who was headteacher at Epsom College, and their seven-year-old daughter, Lettie, before turning the gun on himself, in February last year.

All three were found dead in the grounds of the £42,000-a-year private school, in Surrey, where the family lived.

Mrs Pattison had been planning to leave her husband shortly before she was killed, relatives said.

An inquest last month heard that Mr Pattison, 39, legally held a licence for the shotgun used in the killings, but had lied on his licence renewal form in 2022 about taking medication for anxiety.

Lettie, seven, and her mother Emma Pattison, 45, were both found dead on February 5 2023 at their home in the grounds of exclusive Epsom College boarding school in Surrey, where Mrs Pattison was head teacher

George Pattison shot his wife, Emma, 45, who was headteacher at Epsom College, and their seven-year-old daughter, Lettie, before turning the gun on himself, in February last year 

All three were found dead in the grounds of the £42,000-a-year private school, in Surrey, where the family lived 

The hearing, at Surrey Coroner’s Court, was told the chartered accountant had consulted an online GP and, between 2019 and 2021, was prescribed a ‘significant amount’ of anti-anxiety drug propranolol without the knowledge of his family doctor.

Senior Coroner Richard Travers also heard that, in 2016 Mr Pattison had alleged to police that his wife had assaulted him. However, no consideration was given as to whether this was evidence of domestic or coercive controlling behaviour towards her, nor was the incident brought to the attention of the Licensing Officer when Mr Pattison applied for his shotgun certificate to be renewed.

Mr Travers has now issued two prevention of future deaths notices to Stephen Parkinson, the Director of Public Prosecutions, and to Graham Wareham, chief executive of Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, saying there is ‘a risk other deaths will continue to exist in the future unless action is taken.’

The coroner identified three concerns. Firstly that ‘an applicant for a shotgun certificate was able to obtain medication from an on-line doctor without the knowledge of their GP,’ meaning a licensing authority ‘might’ grant a shotgun certificate to an applicant who has a relevant previous medical history about which they were unaware.

Secondly, by consulting an on-line doctor, ‘it is possible for an applicant for a shotgun certificate to avoid the current safeguards relating to full disclosure of their previous and current medical history, and thirdly, Mr Travers said, ‘consideration should be given as to how a licensing authority can obtain full and accurate disclosure of an applicant’s history of coercive controlling behaviour towards others.’

Pictured is where the family were found dead on the grounds of the exclusive £42,000-a-year Surrey boarding school 

Mrs Pattison had been planning to leave her husband shortly before she was killed, relatives said 

Under the terms of the notices, Mr Parkinson and Mr Wareham have 56 days to respond with details of what action they have taken to safeguard lives in the future.

Mrs Pattison died of shotgun wounds to the chest and abdomen, while Lettie was shot in the head. Both were unlawfully killed, the coroner found.

Mrs Pattison’s sister, Deborah Kirk, told the inquest that she received a phone call from her sibling just before 11pm on February 4, saying her husband had hit her and their dog, Bella.

She said her sister told her: ‘I need someone to come over.’

Her sister’s tone of voice was one of ‘concern, but not of terror’, Ms Kirk said.

‘It was more like she had assessed the situation and did not feel safe.’

Ms Kirk said she and her husband, Mark Miller, got to her sister’s home a short time later after getting concerned when she failed to answer her phone.

When they arrived, all of the lights were on and the cars were in the driveway.

Mr Miller entered the house ahead of Ms Kirk, and then stopped her from coming in any further once she entered.

‘He said don’t go in there, don’t go in there, we are going outside,’ Ms Kirk told the inquest.

Mr Miller called an ambulance, and paramedics arrived on the scene shortly afterwards.

A toxicology report found that Mr Pattison had 243 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood – three times the drink drive limit.

Ms Kirk also read out a tribute to her sister and niece at the inquest.

She said: ‘Emma was lightness itself.’

She said her sister was ‘smart’ and kind in a way that ‘fills a room’ and ‘drives change’.

She described her niece, Lettie, as ‘razor smart, curious, and disarmingly cute’.