Lecturer shot his wife dead when their house failed to sell

Edward Edrich, 59, gunned down Claire in the lounge of their Grade II-listed country home.

A court heard yesterday that he was in financial trouble and depressed that the £575,000 home had not sold because it lay on the path of a planned runway at Gatwick.

After killing his 55-year-old wife, he called one of their two daughters to confess.

"I need you to call the police, I've shot your mum," he told her. "I'm telling the truth, I shot your mother and she's dead."

He also left a message saying what he had done at the offices of his MP, Laura Moffat, who had been supporting his fight against the airport's plans.

Edrich, who was also a businessman, told police that before shooting his wife, he had heard voices telling him to kill himself or her.

He denied murder but admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

Judge Richard Brown made him the subject of a hospital order for an indefinite period under the Mental Health Act.

The judge told him: "I am satisfied on the evidence that you were suffering from mental illness, a severe depressive illness with psychotic symptoms."

Police found Mrs Edrich dead in an armchair in the lounge of her home at Lowland Heath, West Sussex, on January 30.

Prosecutor Ann Toynbee told Lewes Crown Court that Edrich described to police how he had killed his wife.

"He said she was sitting in the dimly-lit front room after consuming her meal," she said. "He didn't know if she was asleep or not, there was no conversation.

"He approached her, raised the shotgun and aimed it at her upper chest and head then heard a loud bang. He saw smoke around her then almost immediately called his daughter to say what he had done."

The court heard the couple had suffered marital problems and depression brought on by the pressure of credit card debts, loans and a possession order on their house.

George Carter-Stephenson QC, defending, said Edrich had suffered suicidal thoughts and had once tossed a coin to decide whether to take his life or not.

After the hearing, the couple's daughters, Claudia and Harriet, said: "We are relieved that this day is now over and our father is finally receiving the medical help he needs.

"We are however saddened that this has come too late to prevent the cascade of events which have devastated our family."

They said their parents had been hounded for repayments that they could not possibly meet.