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| Spalding shootings: Man's killing of wife and daughter 'calculated' | Spalding shootings: Man's killing of wife and daughter 'calculated' |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A man who shot dead his wife and daughter before killing himself was "cold, calculated and scheming", a coroner said. | A man who shot dead his wife and daughter before killing himself was "cold, calculated and scheming", a coroner said. |
| Lance Hart, 57, killed his wife Claire, 50, and daughter Charlotte, 19, outside the Castle Sports Complex, in Spalding, Lincolnshire, on 19 July. | Lance Hart, 57, killed his wife Claire, 50, and daughter Charlotte, 19, outside the Castle Sports Complex, in Spalding, Lincolnshire, on 19 July. |
| He shot the pair with a single-barrel shotgun before turning it on himself. | He shot the pair with a single-barrel shotgun before turning it on himself. |
| Coroner Paul Cooper returned a verdict of unlawful killing on Charlotte and Mrs Hart and suicide on Mr Hart. | Coroner Paul Cooper returned a verdict of unlawful killing on Charlotte and Mrs Hart and suicide on Mr Hart. |
| For more on this story and other news from across Lincolnshire | For more on this story and other news from across Lincolnshire |
| The inquest, at the South Lincolnshire coroner's office in Boston, was told the killings happened days after Mrs Hart had left the family home following a breakdown in the couple's marriage. | The inquest, at the South Lincolnshire coroner's office in Boston, was told the killings happened days after Mrs Hart had left the family home following a breakdown in the couple's marriage. |
| It was told that in the aftermath of the shooting leisure centre manager Alex Marchant found the family and was told by Charlotte: "It was my dad who shot me." | It was told that in the aftermath of the shooting leisure centre manager Alex Marchant found the family and was told by Charlotte: "It was my dad who shot me." |
| It also emerged a memory stick had been found in Mr Hart's car, carrying a 12-page note of what he planned to do, in which he had written: "Revenge is a dish served cold." | |
| 'Deliberate murder' | |
| Mr Cooper said Mr Hart "knew exactly what he was going to do". | Mr Cooper said Mr Hart "knew exactly what he was going to do". |
| "It was a single-barrel shotgun, so it was not a question of him just shooting his wife, he then had to unload it, put another cartridge in and shoot it again," he said. | "It was a single-barrel shotgun, so it was not a question of him just shooting his wife, he then had to unload it, put another cartridge in and shoot it again," he said. |
| "In my view, this was a cold, calculated, scheming man who went out and deliberately murdered his wife and daughter. | "In my view, this was a cold, calculated, scheming man who went out and deliberately murdered his wife and daughter. |
| "If he had lived... he would have been charged with murder, unfortunately he didn't live to face the consequences of his actions. He took his own life." | "If he had lived... he would have been charged with murder, unfortunately he didn't live to face the consequences of his actions. He took his own life." |
| The coroner heard Mrs Hart, who worked in a supermarket, had moved out of her home in Moulton on 14 July. | |
| As she was leaving a neighbour saw her loading bags into a car and was told: "He'll have a surprise when he gets home tonight. I've put up with enough for the past 15, 16 years." | |
| Det Insp Helen Evans said Mrs Hart had confided in a colleague that "she had become worn out by Lance's behaviour". | |
| "She had described him as being a controlling and selfish man," she said. | |
| Mrs Hart was described as "beaming and really happy in the few days that had elapsed since leaving her husband", Ms Evans told the court. | |
| 'Virtuous and beautiful' | 'Virtuous and beautiful' |
| In a statement read out by the detective Mr and Mrs Hart's sons, Ryan and Luke, said the shootings had made their world "a darker place". | In a statement read out by the detective Mr and Mrs Hart's sons, Ryan and Luke, said the shootings had made their world "a darker place". |
| "Charlotte and our mum were our inspiration and purpose in life," they said. | "Charlotte and our mum were our inspiration and purpose in life," they said. |
| "They were the two most virtuous and beautiful people we have ever encountered. | "They were the two most virtuous and beautiful people we have ever encountered. |
| "It is not possible to describe how unfairly and how cruelly they have been taken from us. | "It is not possible to describe how unfairly and how cruelly they have been taken from us. |
| "We request that we may be left to grieve in peace and that our privacy is respected." | "We request that we may be left to grieve in peace and that our privacy is respected." |