Taxi driver in gun massacre was licensed to use firearms

Police said Michael Atherton, 42, shot and killed his 47-year-old partner Susan McGoldrick, her sister Alison Turnbull, 44 and her niece Tanya Turnbull, 24, before shooting himself at his home in Peterlee, County Durham.

It is believed the family had gone out together, either to a pub or for a meal, before the shooting.

Police were called after shots were fired shortly before 11.45pm on Sunday. When officers arrived at the house on Greenside Avenue, Horden, Peterlee they found the bodies of the three women in “close proximity” to each other in the downstairs of the semi-detached home.

A shotgun was found beside the body of the man. Durham Police confirmed they were not seeking anyone else in connection with the incident.

As the shooting began, a teenage woman, understood to be Mrs McGoldrick’s 19-year-old daughter Laura, lept through an upstairs window and raised the alarm, pounding on a neighbour’s front door asking for help.

Another man who fled the house was initially arrested but later released without charge. He, along with other family members, are now being treated as “significant witnesses”.

A spokeswoman for Durham Police said last night: “Police are continuing to try and establish the exact circumstances of what took place and are speaking to family, friends and associates of those who died.

“However, we can confirm that police currently believe Mr Atherton shot the three women before turning the weapon on himself.

“The exact weapon used has still not been established and will also form part of continuing inquiries. Post mortem examinations are being carried out this evening and we hope to release more details of them tomorrow.”

Durham Police assistant chief constable Michael Banks told a news conference that a resident at the address was the “lawful holder” of shotgun and firearms licences.

He said these were for three shotguns and three “Section One” firearms, a category requiring greater authorisation than a shotgun licence.

“This is a tragic event. We have four people who died late last night and our thoughts and feelings are with their family and friends at this moment,” he said.

“I would like to reassure our communities that the police are in control of this incident.”

Police also revealed last night that they had encountered the family prior to this incident, having responded to a report in 2008 of a man, believed to be Atherton, threatening to self-harm at the address. Some reports suggested that he had suffered from depression in the past.

Of the 2008 incident Mr Banks said: “We have had contact with the family. “We are busy reviewing the exact circumstances around that.

“There was a report of a male at that address self-harming. That was some years ago. We are researching all of this. There were words. There was nothing came from that.”

A full forensic team was at the house seeking to establish exactly what had happened.

The deaths come just over three weeks after football coach Richard Smith killed his wife and two children in Pudsey, Leeds, before setting fire to his house.

Earlier in December Leicestershire policeman Tobias Day killed his wife and seven-year-old daughter before taking his own life a week after being sacked.

The latest tragedy is likely to spark renewed debate over whether to further tighten Britain’s gun licensing laws.

Mr Banks said that the shooter was understood to be a member of a gun club. “We’re still researching that,” he said.

Robert Bailey, 72, a long-standing resident of Greenside Avenue, said the occupants of the house appeared “normal, ordinary people”. Another resident said Atherton was a “very nice, kind and considerate” neighbour.

Bodies of man and woman found

The bodies of a man and a woman were discovered at a house in Staffordshire yesterday.

Police were called to a semi-detached property in Ness Grove, Cheadle, near Stoke- on-Trent, at about 12.50.

An investigation was last night underway and the property was cordoned off by police.

The deaths were being treated as suspicious and anyone with information was asked to contact Staffordshire Police.