Psychotic Peter Hartshorne-Jones, 51, said he was terrified of catching coronavirus and objected to his wife Silke, 41, leaving tissues around their ￡600,000 home, a court heard. He even locked himself in a bedroom to avoid getting it and at one stage wrongly thought he was infected. But he lied on his gun licence application and renewal forms – simply writing “No” when asked if he suffered from mental illness.

       Mum of two Silke was shot twice with a 12-bore shotgun at their 17th century farm in Barham, Suffolk, in May 2020 – during the first lockdown.

       Her husband told police: “I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me.”

       A psychiatrist said Hartshorne-Jones had psychotic symptoms at the time. He also sold vintage shotguns for game shooting. He denied murder but admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. His pleas were accepted by the prosecution.

       Yesterday Judge Martyn Levett at Ipswich Crown Court asked why he had a firearms licence.

       Medical notes revealed he had been diagnosed with depression in 1996 and was prescribed anti-depressants in 2009. Firearms licence application and renewal forms demand to know if applicants have ever received treatment for “any kind of mental or nervous disorder”.

       Judge Levett said: “I’ll need to know why [he wrote ‘No’] and whether any checks have been made, and whether there was any need to make those checks. It is a matter of fairness to family members and, from the public interest point of view, that I ought to have this information available.”

       An earlier hearing was told that Hartshorne-Jones had made multiple calls to health professionals from March 16 to April 27 last year, resulting in 29 call-outs to his home.

       Judge Levett said that none of the three psychiatrists who assessed him afterwards appeared to have asked: “Why did you shoot your wife?”

       He said: “The only thing I can find was that he was affected by the assertion he makes that she left tissues around the house when he was labouring under the belief that he was suffering from coronavirus.”

       The sentencing hearing was adjourned when Hartshorne-Jones failed to arrive from a mental health unit where he is being held.

       Suffolk Police said: “We are continuing to follow and comply with national procedures for the issuing of firearms licences.”