A SOUTHAMPTON man shot himself seconds after his partner had told him she was leaving him.

Mark Angliss, a 50-year-old father of three, died from the shotgun wound in their large garden shed in Sholing, an inquest heard.

Ms Garner, in a statement, said they had been together for 20 years but she wanted to end the relationship.

“I told him I didn’t want to be with him any more. Mark said something like ‘I don’t want to be here anymore either.’ With that he got up and pulled a gun out. I just froze in terror. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion.

“It’s pointed at me and at this point I thought he was going to kill me. Then he turned the gun to face him and fired the gun and he fell back on the sofa.”

Armed response officers were the first on the scene, arriving within four minutes, but Mr Angliss was dead.

DC Claire Smith told the hearing it was a double barrelled shotgun which had been illegally obtained.

The inquest heard that Mr Angliss and Ms Garner had been sleeping in the shed while their three children lived in the house on Spring Road. They owned a yacht and were about to buy a new one and wanted to get used to living in cramped conditions, the inquest heard.

Ms Garner said when she met Mr Angliss he was living as a woman and was about six weeks from a sex change operation. On meeting her he decided against the operation but often lived as a woman.

She said for much of the time they had lived happily together although she had suffered domestic abuse. “He was a very loving father to the children. He would do anything for the kids and wouldn’t hurt them.”

Ms Garner said she had started a relationship with another man, something she was open about. Two days before his death Ms Garner, her new boyfriend Ken Fletcher and Mr Angliss, dressed as a woman, had gone to the Shooting Star pub together. The night had seemed to have gone well and Mr Angliss had been chatted up by a man and a woman. But later he had argued with Ms Garner and sent her abusive text messages in which he threatened to kill himself

He had other problems, the inquest heard. His business manufacturing beach buggies was struggling and he was due to be evicted from its premises. On his death Ms Garner discovered he was £30,000 in debt and they were in serious rent arrears to the city council.

Recording a conclusion of suicide senior coroner Grahame Short said: “Although he was biologically male he had a gender dysphoria and at times dressed and lived as a woman. According to the GP report there was no history of reported mental illness but I believe this (dysphoria) caused stress to him and affected his relationship with his partner.”