A GWENT man who went missing from his home shot himself while suffering from depression, a coroner decided yesterday.

Derek John Upton, 64, a retired steelworker from Caldicot disappeared on September 25 last year, taking with him a shotgun from his collection.

His body was found several weeks later on November 6. Yesterday Gwent coroner David Bowen ruled that he killed himself while depressed, though the exact reasons behind Mr Upton's mental state were unclear.

Mr Upton was a well-known local figure whose passions included archaeology, photography and ecology.

At the inquest, Mr Bowen asked Mr Upton's wife Elizabeth Margaret Upton, whether their recent marital problems were the reason he left her shortly before his disappearance.

She explained her husband was suffering from paranoia and hallucinations which was putting strain on their relationship.

She said: "We went on holiday in the week leading up to that date and he had taken himself home and gone back to his house in Caldicot." She also said she had received a number of abusive phone messages from him in the weeks before he went missing.

At about 9.30am on September 25 Mrs Upton was visited by her vicar, the Reverend Richard Nias.

He explained he had called Gwent Police after getting a call from Mr Upton because he was worried about what he might do.

Gwent Police launched a large scale search which extended to the banks of the Severn estuary, as Mr Upton was a keen wildfowler.

The next day, his car was found in a lane near the foreshore of the River Severn between Magor and Rogiet.

On October 6 police found Mr Upton's watch and car keys and the following day they found his shotgun in mudbanks off the River Severn. On November 6 a local man found a body near the former MoD shooting range near Rogiet. The body was identified as Mr Upton's through items belonging to him.

Mr Bowen said: "The post mortem showed Mr Upton died from massive shot gun wounds.

"The position of these indicates they were self-inflicted and I am satisfied that was the case.

"I am convinced at the time of his death he was suffering from some kind of depression."