Ex-soldier, 33, wanted by police over ‘gunshot’ outside children’s play centre died of head injuries after plunging to his death in a quarry, inquest told

A former soldier who was wanted by police over a ‘gunshot’ outside a children’s play centre died of head injuries after plunging to his death in a quarry, an inquest heard.

Chef Grant Barker, 33, was named by police as a suspect after video footage showed two men wrestling over an apparent firearm before a shot rang out in Newry Street, Holyhead on April 10 last year.

Police had launched an appeal to find Barker in connection to the incident but the referred the case to the Office for Police Conduct after he was found dead on April 22, an inquest into the death heard.

Senior North West Wales coroner Katie Sutherland told the hearing in Caernarfon that his body was found at the Twr quarry near Holyhead Mountain. She concluded Barker had died by suicide.

Father Russell Barker told the inquest his son had joined the Army at 16 or 17 and served for seven years.

Two men were recorded wrestling over what appeared to be a firearm in the street in Holyhead

During the footage of the scuffle, a sound familiar to that of a gunshot rings out

He trained as a chef and undertook two tours of Afghanistan where he was said to have witnessed ‘significant events’.

The chef had PTSD from his military experiences and was engaging with the Army First charity. He was made redundant after the tours and returned to North Wales.

On December 23, 2022, his long-term partner moved back to Hereford which left him ‘broken’, according to his father. 

Grant had told his father, who was worried about his wellbeing, to not be be ‘silly’ as he had his children to live for.

His father reported him missing on April 16 and Barker’s body was found almost a week later in the quarry.

Andrew Marion said in a statement that he had been out walking on a track near Holyhead Mountain on April 22 with relatives and his wife.

 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.

The hearing was told he suffered severe blunt force head injury ‘consistent with a fall from a height’ when his body was discovered.

Mountain rescuers helped recover his body from the old quarry on Holyhead mountain in Anglesey, North Wales, and a post-mortem examination was carried out by Home Office pathologist Dr Brian Rodgers.

After the scuffle, one of the men had taken possession of the apparent firearm while the other was on the ground

The pathologist found he died from severe, blunt force head injuries consistent with a fall from height. The doctor found no suspicious injuries to suggest an assault or third party involvement, he said.

Detective Constable Les Ellis told the inquest he attended the scene of the incident that day and saw Barker’s body 25ft below.

Catherine Gordon, a registered mental health nurse who had assessed Mr Barker by phone on November 2 last year, said Barker had went through ‘extremely stressful’ events recently.

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.’

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