A “cheerful” and sociable window cleaner took his own life days before the coronavirus lockdown, fearing he would not be able to cope with the changes that were coming, an inquest heard.

Richard Baer, who lived in Amersham, would regularly visit his elderly parents, go to the pub, play golf and go to the café before working as a window cleaner – but he feared he would lose everything as the severity of the coronavirus outbreak became more apparent in March.

He died as a result of a gunshot to the head at his home in Meadow Drive and was discovered by his cleaner on the morning on March 18 – five days before the country went into lockdown. He was 58.

A note at the scene for his family said: “I love you, I just can’t take all this ****.”

Mr Baer’s siblings said in a statement at Buckinghamshire Coroner’s Court on Wednesday that their brother was “gregarious” and may have feared that being unable to work, play golf, go to the pub and socialise would leave him “isolated”.

His siblings said they were “terribly shocked” at their brother’s death, saying he was a “fundamentally cheerful person” with a stable personal and professional life.

They said: “He relied on being able to go out to work five days a week, he went to the same café every morning before work. He would have hated to be isolated.”

Mr Baer had moderate chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD), which means he likely would have fallen into the shielding category and he may have been feeling “vulnerable” because of this.

His sister, who had visited from Australia, had contracted coronavirus and the family were advised to self-isolate but Mr Baer had decided not to – even though in those early days of the virus it was “unusual to come into contact with someone who had been ill”.

In the days before his death, his family say he had not expressed any concerns about his own health and was not feeling unwell, but had concerns about the health of his parents.

In a phone call with his brother just two days before he was found dead, they spoke about “work and the weather”.

But his cleaner found his body when she arrived at his home on March 18. The door was on the latch and his vehicle was outside, but she did not become concerned until she realised the curtains were still drawn.

When she found his body and a double-barrelled shotgun, she “panicked” and rushed to find neighbours to help, but there were no lifesaving opportunities.

One note at the scene mentioned how he could not take the situation, another mentioned he had had “no infection for seven days”.

Senior coroner Crispin Butler said the notes were “crucial” for understanding why Mr Baer had done what he did and that he was clearly concerned about not being able to do the things he enjoyed in life.

He said: “He wouldn’t have been able to work or play golf or go to the pub – his guess that this would happen was absolutely right.

“His death was so sad and sudden.”

Mr Butler recorded Mr Baer’s death as suicide.

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