A RETAINED firefighter from Dousland shot his girlfriend with a Magnum revolver before killing himself, an inquest in Honiton heard this week.

Andrew Pawlowski, aged 52, then turned the illegally owned gun on himself and took his own life by firing a second bullet into his temple on April 2 last year.

The inquest heard how Mr Pawlowski, a plumber, was about to leave the fire service after 20 years and that family and friends had become increasingly worried by his state of mind.

It heard he spent hours on the internet researching conspiracy theories.

He was also fascinated by guns and had an illegal collection, including the .357 Magnum Smith and Wesson revolver.

His girlfriend, Beverley Shears, aged 43, told friends she was about to leave him, but is thought to have rushed to the cottage where he lived with his mother when she suspected he was suicidal.

The inquest heard that Mr Pawlowski had spent the night before the tragedy reminiscing with his mother, Margaret, and going through hundreds of old photographs.

Mrs Pawlowski, aged 86, was too frail to attend the inquest, but gave a statement to police.

She said she believed Beverley had come to her cottage near Dousland because she feared for her son's safety.

Mrs Pawlawski said: 'Andrew wanted space and to be on his own and at the last minute Beverley came and could not give him that space.

'The problem was that she loved him too much to leave him alone. That is why that poor dear girl is not with us today.'

The inquest heard the couple met when Beverley joined Yelverton fire station three years earlier.

He was dominant and moody but Beverley, who also worked as a cleaner and home help, insisted there was a gentle side to him.

In the two weeks before the killing, friends noticed Mr Pawlowski had become withdrawn and strange, the inquest heard.

Coroner Dr Elizabeth Earland was told that Mr Pawlowski talked to himself and told his mother he was hearing voices. Beverley's friends urged her to leave him or ask him to get professional help. One warned her not to be alone with him just hours before the shootings.

Mrs Pawlowski said that on April 1 she had sat up most of the night with her son. She woke late next morning, to find Beverley and her son in the garden.

She said: 'There was terrible, horrible screaming and shouting from Beverley. She was shouting "Margaret, Margaret help me" and "No, no, stop, stop". She was absolutely scared to death.'

She then saw her try to flee but trip over and Mr Pawlowski hit her until she collapsed on the path.

Mrs Pawlowski said: 'I screamed to him to get off her three or four times.

'He hit her head and she stopped screaming. I told him I was calling the police. I knew she needed help.'

The inquest was told that Mrs Pawlowski dialled 999 and during the call she heard two bangs. They were five or six seconds apart and when she next looked out she saw the two bodies.

Joanne Hoar, who spoke to Beverley on the phone the night before the shootings, said: 'She was worried Andrew might do something stupid.'

Beverley had been cleaning at a house on the morning of the killing and left early with a note saying: 'What a lovely day, spring is here. Things are not so good with myself. I'm at my wit's end and worried about Andrew. I don't know which way to turn.'

Dr Earland recorded a verdict of unlawful killing on Beverley Shears and one of suicide on Andrew Pawlowski.