A BUSINESSMAN who died from gunshot wounds at his home in Worcestershire was a former Army captain who had served in Iraq.

As reported in your Worcester News yesterday, Barry Sugrue was found with serious injuries at his home in the outskirts of Inkberrow on Tuesday.

His wife of nine years, Monika, is thought to have been at the barn conversion home they shared in Priory Farm Lane.

West Mercia Police are not treating his death as suspicious.

The 38-year-old lost his job as a company director with CPL Interiors Plc in Birmingham before Christmas.

Mr Sugrue had been a captain with A Squadron Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire Yeomanry.

He remained a serving captain in the Territorial Army and had served in Iraq, friends said yesterday.

Friends expressed shock at his death, saying he would have viewed losing his job as a “personal failure”.

One friend who knew Mr Sugrue for 12 years, said: “Barry was a crack-shot with a rifle and was well admired in military circles. His family have been serving in the Army for 200 years.

“He would have joined the regular army but he was head over heels in love with Monika and he made compromises to be with her. Losing his job would have been extremely hard for him.”

Worcestershire coroner Geraint Williams has been informed and an inquest was opened today.