A former Weymouth GP shot his partner at a hotel in Cape Verde before turning the gun on himself, taking his own life, a coroner ruled.

The bodies of Titus Bradley, 42, and Noemi Gergely, 28, were found at the Divin Art guest house on the island of Santo Antao two days after they checked in.

An inquest held in Bournemouth heard that on April 15 last year, witnesses reported hearing the couple arguing at the guest house. Ms Gergely told a receptionist that Dr Bradley had “struck her,” but she returned to their room, when staff later heard gunshots.

Local police were called after Ms Gergely and Dr Bradley were found slumped on the floor in the bathroom. Both had died from gunshot wounds to the head, thought to be fired from a pistol which was found at the scene. Police concluded a case of homicide followed by suicide.

Dr Bradley worked as a GP in Weymouth, based at Preston Road Surgery, between 2003 and 2009.

As previously reported in the Echo, Dr Bradley used to live in Portesham and was a keen spear fisherman.

The inquest was told that at the time of his death he was divorced and he had children with his ex-wife.

His mother, Gail Seery, said in a written statement that her son was a “high achiever,” but battled with depression and suicidal thoughts, and had also been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. She said he had mentioned suicide in the month leading up his death.

She said: “Shortly before he died he was in touch a great deal, he and Noemi were no longer a couple and he was strangely furious with her.

“He messaged me a lot about suicide...in other shorter messages he said he’d had a great life and had done wonderful things but kept thinking about what he’d lost.

“Money was a problem for him but Noemi seemed to be well off. He asked me for help.

“On the day of his death I had an email from him saying he was feeling better about life. At 6pm (his ex- wife) rang to tell us he was dead.

“I know he was angry at Noemi but I never thought he would be capable of shooting her. My son was mentally ill and it led to the end of his life, or so I believe.”

As reported by the Echo, Dr Bradley allegedly left Britain in 2017 as Sussex police launched an investigation into missing NHS money linked to his medical practices in Hastings, East Sussex.

The inquest heard police found messages written in Dr Bradley’s passport which were summarised by assistant coroner for Dorset, Richard Middleton, who led the inquest.

He said the messages referred to suicide and to him having a gun in his possession. They also suggested that he knew “someday he would be caught” and apologised for his “mistakes.”

Mr Middleton concluded that Dr Bradley died by suicide, and offered condolences to his family.