Police handed back guns to killer

A MAN who shot his partner and two other women before killing himself had his guns taken from him by police three years ago amid concerns for the state of his mind, it emerged yesterday.

Minicab driver Michael Atherton, 42, successfully applied to have his weapons returned after his family had raised concerns that he had threatened to shoot himself in 2008.

Late on New Year’s Day, police were called to his semi-detached house in Horden, Peterlee, County Durham, and found he had killed his 47-year-old partner Susan McGoldrick, her sister Alison Turnbull, 44, and her niece Tanya Turnbull, 24, before taking his own life.

As the shooting began, a teenager, understood to be Mrs McGoldrick’s 19-year-old daughter Laura, fled through an upstairs window and raised the alarm.

Labour MP Grahame Morris said: “The issue is that, in 2008, police responded to a call that there was a domestic argument and Mr Atherton had threatened to self-harm – to shoot himself. At the time, the police took his firearms from him and he applied to have them returned. Police made an assessment and they were returned to him.”

Durham Police confirmed that the weapons were taken from Mr Atherton’s house as a precaution but, as he insisted there had been no threat to harm himself, the weapons were returned.

Mr Morris, whose Easington constituency includes Horden, is calling for a review of firearms legislation in the light of the tragedy which has shocked the former mining village. He said a balance between the rights of shotgun users and the safety of the public needed to be struck.

The killings have echoes of Cumbrian gunman Derrick Bird’s 2010 rampage, in which he murdered 12 people.

Both Bird and Mr Atherton were minicab drivers known to the police. In Bird’s case, he was convicted of theft in 1990 but retained his shotgun licence.

Due to the previous contact that it had with the family, Durham Police has voluntarily referred the new case to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

It emerged that Mr Atherton may have been at a traditional Boxing Day dip in nearby Blackhall and had appeared in good spirits.

He was regarded as fairly outgoing, was well liked in the area and had a large number of family and friends.

Police said Mr Atherton was out drinking on New Year’s Day separately from his partner, who was out with friends, including Alison and Tanya.

The senior investigating officer, Detective Superintendent Paul Goundry, said: “We believe Mr Atherton and Susan returned to their home separately and shortly afterwards an argument took place.

“Mr Atherton produced a shotgun and in a matter of moments shot dead Susan, Tanya and Alison before turning the gun on himself.”

The British Association for Shooting and Conservation warned against “any knee-jerk reaction” to the tragedy.

The organisation expressed sadness and offered its sympathy to the victims, but added: “No conclusions can be drawn from this case until the full facts are known.”

Prime Minister David Cameron’s official spokesman said the government had no plans to revisit UK gun laws, which were “amongst the toughest in the world”.