Christopher Parry guilty of murdering wife Caroline Parry

'Controlling' Christopher Parry gunned down his wife last August

A man has been found guilty of murdering his wife by shooting her twice in the back after she left him.

Mother-of-two Caroline Parry, 49, was shot at close range by her "controlling and dominant" husband on a residential street near her home last August.

She had left Christopher Parry, 50, after 27 years of unhappiness, so he shot her and turned the gun on himself.

He had denied murder, saying he only meant to shoot himself, but a jury at Newport Crown Court found him guilty.

The court heard the shooting was a "carefully planned scheme" by a man "not prepared to let go".

Mrs Parry was gunned down by her estranged husband after leaving the home she shared with her new partner in Newport.

She had left the father of her two children after she met another man, Gary Bidmead, while walking her dog.

She and Mr Bidmead struck up a friendship during a conversation where he had seen her crying and asked if she was okay. Their friendship gradually developed into something more and they moved in together six months later - something her estranged husband could not accept.

But the jury heard Parry had kept his wife "under surveillance" in the months leading up to the shooting, and phoned her persistently.

On the morning he killed her, Parry had been waiting for his wife in Seabreeze Avenue, and when he saw her got a semi-automatic shotgun from the boot of his car.

He shot her twice in the back at close range before turning the gun on himself in a suicide attempt which failed, but resulted in horrific head and facial injuries.

Parry told a psychiatrist his "intention was to kill himself in front of his wife to make her realise the torment she had put him through", the court heard.

But the reality was that during her marriage she had been controlled by her husband to such an extent that she was only allowed to stay with her mother once a month and she had to be in by 7pm.

Prosecutor Michael Mather-Lees QC said: "Such was the state of the marriage she left and went to live with her mother, telling her husband she would never go back to him.

"But he could not accept the fact that his wife had left him after years of unhappiness."

Parry, who had a shotgun licence and kept three firearms at his Cwmbran home, was a driver for the Celtic Manor Resort. The court heard he had a history of mental illness and depression dating back over 10 years.

Emergency services were called to the scene after neighbours heard gunshots

After being discharged from hospital two months after the shooting, Parry was sectioned under the Mental Health Act.

A jury delivered a majority verdict of 10-1 after deliberating since Friday.

After the verdict, Det Supt Bill Davies said: "The court has determined Christopher Parry was responsible for the murder of his estranged wife. This is a tragic case that resulted in the death of Caroline - the loss of a mother, daughter, sister and friend to many. Our condolences remain with those who have suffered her loss."

Parry was not present in the dock for the verdict with the judge's permission. He will be sentenced at a later date.

Parry waited for his wife in Seabreeze Avenue before shooting her with a semi-automatic shotgun