Last modified on Mon 19 Apr 2021 15.37 EDT
A childrenâs author and parish councillor died after a neighbour with mental health issues shot him in the face and stamped on his head, believing he worked for Vladimir Putin and was to blame for the spread of Covid-19, an inquest heard.
James Nash, 42, was repairing the garden well outside his thatched countryside cottage when his neighbour Alex Sartain confronted him and accused him of spying on him.
Sartain, whose father unsuccessfully asked for help for his sonâs mental health problems weeks before, discharged a homemade shotgun into Nashâs face. The victimâs wife, Sarah Nash, rushed out and saw Sartain repeatedly stamping on her husband. Sartain tried to attack her but she fled to a neighbourâs house.