Killer had guns confiscated 3 years ago over fears of self-harm

A MAN who shot his partner and two other women before killing himself had his guns taken from him by police three years ago amid concerns for the state of his mind, it has emerged.

Taxi driver Michael Atherton, 42, successfully applied to have his weapons returned after his family had raised concerns that he had threatened to shoot himself in 2008.

Late on New Year’s Day police were called to his semi-detached house in Greenside Avenue, Horden, Peterlee, Durham, and found he had killed his 47-year-old partner, Susan McGoldrick, her sister, Alison Turnbull, 44, and her niece, Tanya Turnbull, 24, before taking his own life.