A CIVILIAN police worker shot himself in the mouth after meticulously planning his own death, Croydon Coroner's Court heard.

William Derring, aged 53, of Blandford Road, Beckenham, booked a gun out of police stores in South Norwood on June 28, recording as the reason "suicide by me".

He then sat in a garden chair in the property store, isolated from the rest of the building, and shot himself.

His friend and colleague Malcolm O'Hara approached the store the following morning and was surprised to see lights on.

He said: "I opened the door and all the lights were on. Then I saw him in a garden chair, up against the outer door which leads to the yard.

"He was holding a gun in his left hand, with the stock on the floor and the barrel pointing up."

Ex-policeman Mr O'Hara called the custody officer.

A handwritten note was found in Mr Derring's right hand and another note was found in the store.

A check of the store computer revealed the entry recording the removal of the gun.

Detective Inspector Michael Froggatt said the gun had been seized in 2000 and had been in the store ever since.

But extensive enquiries had failed to show where the bullet had come from.

Mr Derring, who lived with his girlfriend Maggie Bowley, was a member of a shooting club and held a small arms certificate. DI Froggatt said Mr Derring was last seen walking from the store at 3.15pm and returning at 3.20pm, just one minute before the computer entry was keyed in.

Pathologist Dr Richard Shepherd gave the cause of death as shotgun injuries in the mouth and reported Mr Derring's skull had been fractured.

Coroner Dr Roy Palmer, returning a suicide verdict, said: "This was well-planned and carefully executed."