A LORRY driver fatally shot himself because he could “no longer stand” his worsening health, an inquest ruled.

Geoffrey Pointer was two days short of his 62nd birthday when we was found beside a double-barrelled shotgun in his garden in Green Close, Didcot, on September 20.

Oxfordshire Coroner’s Court at Old County Hall, Oxford, heard on Tuesday Mr Pointer had difficulty breathing due to a long-standing lung tumour which had become inoperable.

His widow Madeline said he was “seriously depressed and quiet all the time”.

She told the hearing her husband had not been sleeping well and had gone to watch television during the early morning before his death.

At 4.45am she woke to find Mr Pointer was no longer in their bungalow and his shoes, jacket, keys and shotgun were missing.

After she called police, her husband was found by officers and declared dead at 6.07am. A note had been left in one of his pockets.

Coroner Nicholas Gardiner said: “On hearing the evidence it suggests that Mr Pointer had suffered from a progressive illness for which really there was no effective treatment.

“The time came when clearly he could stand it no longer and took his own life.”