Horden deaths inquiry focuses on 6 weapons licences

Police investigating the deaths of three women and the man who shot them before killing himself are expected to focus on why he owned six guns. Michael Atherton, 42, had licences for the firearms despite police revealing they were told three years ago that he had threatened to harm himself. He shot his partner Susan McGoldrick, her sister Alison Turnbull, 44, and her niece Tanya Turnbull, 24. Officers found the bodies inside the house in Horden, Co Durham, on Sunday. Det Supt Paul Goundry said detectives were not looking for anyone else in connection with deaths of 47-year-old Ms McGoldrick and the two other women. Three other people, including a 19-year-old woman, escaped from an upstairs window during the incident at the property on Greenside Avenue. The 19-year-old is believed to have suffered minor injuries. Police found the victims downstairs in different rooms of the house in Horden near Peterlee. 'Minor contact' Assistant Chief Constable Michael Banks said Mr Atherton was licensed to own six weapons, three of them shotguns and a further three "section-one" firearms. The latter required a greater degree of authorisation than a shotgun licence, he said. Mr Atherton had been a member of a gun club in the area but it is not known if he was still an active member. "I can confirm that a resident at that address was the lawful holder of shotgun and firearms licences and we cannot confirm at this stage whether any of those weapons that were lawfully held have been used in this," said Mr Banks. It has also emerged that the Durham force had previously had what has been described as "minor contact" with the family and that as a result, a voluntary referral to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) was being made. The victims had been in a group celebrating the New Year in what police have called a "close and very settled community". Mr Goundry, who described the deaths as "a tragic event", added: "We have four people who died and our thoughts and feelings are with their family and friends at this moment."