A Royal Navy sailor took his own life with an assault rifle after the breakdown of his marriage and sexual assault allegations became too ‘painful’ for him, an inquest heard.
Petty Officer Jon Errington Paxton, 38, took the keys for a weapons storage locker from the belt of a sleeping colleague before shooting himself dead on board the minehunter HMS Cattistock while it was docked in Portsmouth, Hampshire in April 2023.
An inquest heard he was in the process of getting divorced from his wife and mother of his children Verity Wyng and was struggling with the ‘marital breakdown’.
He had also been
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