A coroner has ruled that a children's author and parish councillor was unlawfully killed after being assaulted at his Upper Enham home.

Cllr James Nash passed away on August 8 last year after being attacked by Alex Sartain on August 5, who had become convinced he was a Russian spy. He sustained wounds from a ‘home-made’ shotgun fired at close range, as well as numerous injuries to his face and neck.

Sartain ‘stamped repeatedly’ on Nash’s head, with a post-mortem later giving this as the cause of death.

Paying tribute to her husband, Sarah Nash said that he was "a kind and generous man who wanted to help people in the community at large."

The conclusion of the inquest into the death of James Nash was held on April 19 at Winchester Coroners’ Court, having been opened on August 18.

The inquest heard from Alex Sartain’s brother Scott, who said that Alex’s mental health “really started to deteriorate” over the past few years. An incident in 2019 saw him sectioned under the Mental Health Act, and he was discharged in November that year.

Scott said that Alex “came back a different person after being sectioned” and was in a “much worse state than before he was admitted.”

James Nash often visited the Sartain household to source parts for his tractor from John Sartain, Alex’s father. They had bonded over a love of war memorabilia, and Scott noted that Alex had ‘muttered’ about James in his room, but that he did this often about people visiting the family.

Alex Sartain became convinced that James "had something to do with Putin and the spread of Covid", while believing Sarah was working for a secret NASA project.

Following concerns, John called the community mental health team about his concerns, and was told instead to call his GP. The community mental health team had discharged Alex in April as they had been “unable to contact him”, and had sent a letter informing his GP at the Adelaide Medical Centre in Andover of this.

However, the letter was filed by administrative staff and never seen by a GP.

John then called the surgery, where he was told by a receptionist that “there was nothing we [the surgery] can do.” A review later found this was “inappropriate advice”, but the coroner said that it “cannot be ascertained” whether Alex being seen by a doctor would have seen him sectioned again.

Subsequently, on August 5, James Nash was working on a well pump in his garden in Upper Enham when he was approached by Alex Sartain. The coroner found that Alex “entered James Nash’s property intending to confront him and brought with him a modified improvised firearm.”

In the ensuing altercation, Alex fired a shotgun at close range, but James managed to move the muzzle away from him so he was only struck a glancing blow by the pellets. He was then knocked to the floor, and Alex attempted to fire a second time, but the improvised sawn-off shotgun jammed.

He then proceeded to inflict “repeated forceful blows to the face and head” of James. Sarah at this point rushed outside, and “bravely” tried to distract Sartain, who was shouting at her and accusing her of being responsible for his sectioning.

She said he was “clearly very, very agitated” and “aggressive” as she tried to stop him attacking her husband. As he moved towards her, she ran into a neighbour’s garden for help. Alex then rode away on his motorbike.

While neighbours Caroline and Chris Wood tried to stem the flow of bleeding and get James breathing again, Alex returned to his family home, where he said he had “killing James” when asked what he was doing.

Family friend Toni Heaver, who was present, said that she saw what she thought was blood on his right hand, and was worried he was reloading his weapon when he entered one of the workshops. She drove to the Nash household to check on them, and to inform police of Alex’s whereabouts.

Two police officers, PC White and PC Ness, went to the Sartain property, where they say Alex “accelerated very hard” towards them, forcing them to jump out of the way. Subsequently, three “improvised weapons” were recovered from the property, with forensics showing they had all been fired at some point.

James was subsequently taken to hospital in Southampton, where his blood pressure was “initially unreadable”. There was little response from him to treatment, and a CT scan arranged on August 6 showed a brain injury that was deemed “unsurvivable” by doctors.

A post-mortem examination subsequently found five pellets in James’s body, as well as black staining to the left hand where he had defended himself against the shotgun. Dr Amanda Jeffrey found that the brain had been ‘grossly disrupted’ while the skull had been significantly damaged, finding that James’ cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head.

Summing up, Area Coroner Jason Pegg said that Alex “had entered James Nash’s property intending to confront him” and that the impact of his assault was “the inevitable consequence James Nash would suffer considerable bodily harm or loss of life”.

He found as a fact that the letter sent from the Community Mental Health Team was never seen by a GP at the Adelaide Medical Centre, which it “perhaps should have been”. However, he said changes following the practice being taken over meant there was “no ongoing risk to life.”

He recorded a verdict of unlawful killing, saying: “Clearly, another used unlawful force against James Nash”, adding that it was "quite likely criminal proceedings would have been brought" against Alex Sartain, who died following a police pursuit on August 5.

The inquest into the death of Alex Sartain will be concluded on Wednesday, April 21.