Paralysed shooting victim Barrie Hepburn died while trying to hack off leg
Published: 17th March, 2011
by JOSH LOEB
A PROPERTY magnate who survived being shot three times bled to death while trying to amputate his leg 10 years later, an inquest has heard.
Barrie Hepburn, 65, who lived off Prince Albert Road, Regent’s Park, died on August 29 last year after severing his right leg with a hacksaw.
The Westminster inquest heard that Mr Hepburn, a retired property consultant, had become paralysed in his lower body after being shot in 2000 by a neighbour while holidaying at his cottage in France.
Susan Hepburn, Mr Hepburn’s widow, said her husband had told her of a wish to amputate his legs.
He regarded them as “a hindrance” as they prevented him from independently getting into a car he had bought with money paid to him as compensation for the shooting.
She said: “He couldn’t get them in the car. That was the problem. That was the overriding factor.”
She said Mr Hepburn had viewed videos of self-amputation online but had pledged not to attempt it.
Dr Hayley Moore, a surgeon who spoke to Mr Hepburn about a planned procedure to deal with a sore on his back, said Mr Hepburn had also spoken to her about possible self-amputation.
She added: “He was clear that he did not want to end his life. He was clear that he thought his legs did not serve a purpose and that in fact they got in the way.
“I asked him: was he aware that if he attempted to amputate his legs himself there was a strong possibility that this would end his life, and he said he would not.”
The cause of death was recorded as excessive blood loss.
The inquest was adjourned and will resume on June 22.