AN INQUEST jury has been hearing evidence surrounding the death of an Ulverston firearms officer who was found dead with a single gunshot wound to the head.

PC Philip Beckett's body was discovered in the back of an armed response vehicle parked outside Ulverston police station on June 29 last year with a pistol by his side.

A Barrow Town Hall inquest today (Monday) heard that the 37-year-old father-of-two had been "a bit down" the day before his death but had not given his friends and colleagues any reason to believe he would commit suicide.

The officer of 18 years standing confided in his best friend Detective Sergeant Doug Marshall that he was thinking of quitting the force but told the inquest he hadn't thought his friend was "on the verge of something". Indeed whenever suicide had been mentioned PC Beckett had been against it and "it wasn't something he ascribed to", said DS Marshall.

PC Beckett's wife Emma said there no marital problems or money worries. She also denied saying "he promised he wouldn't do it" to two officers who called at the couple's Barrow-in-Furness home to break the news of her husband's death.

A pathologist will give evidence to the inquest tomorrow before jurors retire to consider their verdict.

See Friday's Westmorland Gazette for the full story.