Wanted man took own life in quarry
EX-SOLDIER HAD BEEN SOUGHT OVER ‘SHOOTING’ DAYS BEFORE
Grant Barker ‘had experienced a number of extremely stressful life events’ in the months prior to his death
A FORMER soldier who was wanted by police following a “shooting” on Anglesey was found dead at a quarry, an inquest has heard.
Police launched an appeal to find Grant Alfred Barker, 33, after two men had been seen scuffling in Newry Street, Holyhead, on April 10 last year.
In a video of the incident, a noise sounding like a gunshot could be heard.
Police appealed for information to try and find Mr Barker in connection with the incident, but later confirmed he had been found dead and referred the case to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).
At an inquest held in Caernarfon yesterday, Kate Robertson, senior coroner for North West Wales, said he was found at the Twr quarry near Holyhead Mountain on April 12.
She concluded he died by suicide. Mr Grant’s father, Russell Barker, told the inquest in a statement his Nottingham-born son had been educated in Holyhead.
He joined the Army at 16 or 17 and served for seven years. He trained as a chef and undertook two tours of Afghanistan, where he was said to have witnessed “significant events”. But he was made redundant and returned to North Wales.
In December 2022, his long-term partner moved back to Hereford. This left him “broken”, said his father.
He had PTSD from his military experiences and was in touch with the Army First charity.
But he told his father, who was concerned about him, not to be “silly” as he had his children to live for.
Mr Barker snr described Grant as “jolly” and “happy-go-lucky”.
On April 16, his father reported him missing.
Police found his body in the quarry on April 22.
Witness Andrew Marion said in a statement he had been walking with his wife Caroline and relatives on a track near Holyhead Mountain on April 22.
He said he was on the right-hand side of a quarry face.
He said: “I looked down into the quarry and saw what I thought was a person.”
“He and his brother-in-law went down to the higher level of the two-tier quarry and his brother-in-law confirmed a person had died.
Detective Constable Les Ellis, in CID at Llangefni Police Station, said he heard about the incident at noon that day.
He attended and saw a male 25ft below.
He was wearing a black Puffa jacket and light blue jeans.
He recognised him as Grant Barker and identified him.
“I knew Mr Barker from when I worked as a response officer in Holyhead,” he said.
Catherine Gordon, a registered mental health nurse, said in a statement that she had assessed Mr Barker by phone on November 2, 2022.
She said: “He had experienced a number of extremely stressful life events in recent months.
“He had taken a job he did not want or like in order to pay for the house.
“He was working over 40 hours a week in long, unsocial hours.”
He sometimes smoked 20 cigarettes a day and drank to excess at times.
“He had had feelings of suicide for many years.
Home Office pathologist Dr Brian Rodgers conducted a postmortem examination.
He found Mr Barker died from severe, blunt force head injuries consistent with a fall from height.
He found no suspicious injuries to suggest an assault or third party involvement, he said.
The coroner found that there was selfinflicted wounds to his wrist and neck, but that they played no part in the death, the inquest heard.
She agreed with the pathologist’s proposed cause of death and concluded his death was due to suicide.
She passed on her sincere condolences to relatives in the chamber.