Emneth woman was acting ‘totally out of character’ weeks before shooting herself, inquest hears

A woman who was found dead with gunshot wounds last year shot herself days after resigning from her job, an inquest heard.

Lesley Page, 65, was found dead by her husband, Steven Page, in their garden on the morning of September 11 on Lady’s Drove in Emneth. Mr Page had been out looking for his wife before finding her.

Addressing coroner Jacqueline Lake, he said his wife’s behaviour prior to her death had been “totally out of character” and that she had become more “timid”.

Initially, a man in his 60s was arrested on suspicion of murder, but was later released when police were satisfied that there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding Lesley’s death.

An inquest took place at Norfolk Coroners Court in Norwich on Monday where it was heard that Lesley had a career as a PA working at various Barclays banks across the country.

Lesley and her husband previously lived in London, but moved to Emneth around six years ago. She continued working, commuting to Barclays in Canary Wharf.

The inquest heard that prior to her death, Lesley handed in her resignation, with her reason being the long commute to work.

A statement given by one of Lesley’s sisters described her as a “career woman” who also enjoyed life outside of work.

She said that Lesley and her husband enjoyed clay pigeon shooting and owned a shotgun.

Another statement was read out by Lesley’s other sister, who said that she knew her sister had previously taken medication for depression or another mental health condition.

A statement provided by Lesley’s former employer at Barclays in Canary Wharf said that she worked there for three years and had a hybrid role of working half the week from the office and the other half from home.

They described Lesley’s resignation to be “out of the blue” and said she was offered alternative options before resigning.

The court heard that Lesley then went on to seek employment closer to home and was successful in getting a job at a solicitors.

In police interview, Mr Page said that he woke up at around 6.30am on September 11 to find his wife was not in bed with him.

He got up to go and find her, she wasn’t at home so he took his van and drove to the nearby corner shop to see if she was there.

He tried phoning her but got no answer. He later discovered his wife in their four-acre garden and emergency services were called.

Mr Page said in interview that his wife showed no recent intention of ending her own life – but had made a comment 18 months to two years ago saying that she thought about shooting herself.

Mr Page told the coroner he didn’t know his wife was taking medication for her mental health and only found out from a friend of hers.

He added that his wife purchased the shotgun in 2019 and they both used it when clay pigeon shooting.

The couple had been married for 46 years.

Coroner Jacqueline Lake ruled that Lesley’s death could not be classed as suicide due to the lack of evidence that she had committed the act with the intention to die.

“Although she shot herself, she may have not had the intention to die, it could have been a cry for help,” said Ms Lake.

Lesley’s cause of death was ruled as ‘1A shotgun wounds’.

Ms Lake came to a short-form narrative conclusion that Lesley “shot herself and died and as a result of her injuries, but evidence doesn't reveal her intentions at the time”.

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