A LONG-RUNNING family feud over money led to father-of-three Sawa Singh, 51, to shoot his brother and sister-in-law with a stolen shotgun, and then to use it to kill himself.

An inquest in Chippenham on Tuesday was told Singh, of The Causeway, Chippenham, had written about his intention to shoot younger brother Kashmira, 42, and his wife Dialo, 38, in a note addressed to his sons Kalvir and Kondon.

The court heard there had been disputes between Sawa and Kashmira and their other brother Kiker, for more than a year, which had culminated in Kiker and Kashmira involved in civil proceedings against their eldest brother.

On November 28, five days before the shooting at the home Kashmira and Sawa's families shared in The Causeway, the proceedings had been finalised in favour of Kashmira, with Sawa ordered to pay all the legal costs.

This was the final straw for Sawa, who was convinced Kashmira had been stealing money from him and other members of his family.

Kashmira said Sawa had been acting suspiciously for several days, spending an unusual amount of time at Kiker's home in Wood Lane and coming home covered in grease and dirt.

The court heard Dialo had got up on the morning of the shooting and gone to her husband's bedroom to wake him with a glass of water for his medication, which was an everyday routine. She said Kashmira had kept his door locked since the arguments started with his brother, who had made several threats to shoot him and his wife.

In a statement read out in court, Dialo, who was only released from hospital yesterday and is still very ill, said: "Things had become very difficult with my family unable to speak to Sawa's"

When Dialo went to her husband she was confronted by her brother-in-law standing in the bathroom doorway opposite Kashmira's bedroom, holding a sawn-off pump action shotgun.

"Even though the light wasn't on I could see he was holding a gun and pointing it towards Kashmira's bedroom. Sawa didn't say anything to me but I shouting a warning to Kashmira to stay away from the door," she said.

"As I was shouting, he turned the gun towards me. I started shaking and dropped the glass I was holding. At first I thought I had been shot but then I realised it was the glass.

"Almost immediately Sawa did shoot me. Within seconds my leg felt really heavy and I fell to the ground."

Moments later Sawa aimed the gun at his brother's bedroom door and shot it, blasting the door open. Kashmira was unhurt.

Sawa then burst into the room and told his brother to sit on his bed.

Kasmira told the inquest: "He was pointing the gun at me from his hip and I was shouting 'Don't, don't.'

"He fired towards me, I turned to my right, and it hit me in the chest," he said.

"Then he said 'I didn't shoot you in the right place,' and I said: 'You shot me in the heart.'

"He took the gun and aimed at my head and pulled the trigger but nothing happened, it didn't go off."

Kashmira said he pushed past his brother and got to the door, where he saw his wife lying in a pool of blood.

"He was screaming at the top of his voice for me to come inside," said Kashmira. "He said if I didn't go in he would shoot my wife, the children and everybody."

Sawa called his niece into the room and forced Kashmira to say it had all been his fault.

The teenager said she saw the horrific sight of both her parents injured and bleeding. She went downstairs and then heard another gunshot.

Kasmira said: "Sawa turned the gun on himself, held it to his chest and said 'this is all your fault.'He just fell to the ground".

Coroner David Masters said: "It is clear from a note written by Sawa that there was a certain amount of planning for this particular event. He had deliberately gone from his room to his brother's room and shot his sister-in-law and brother, both of whom could well have died.

"In the note he confirmed he was going to bring harm to his brother and his brother's wife, but did not say he wanted to take his own life because he had written he expected a prison sentence for what he was about to do."

Mr Masters said: "I think in the agony of the moment and the realisation of what he had done, he did then turn the gun on himself."

He said he had no option but to return a verdict of suicide.

'Police still have questions to answer'

FATHER-of-five Kashmira Singh, who was arrested on suspicion of murdering his brother, has declared war on Wiltshire Constabulary.

Mr Singh, 42, who was told by police in January that he would not face charges after the triple shooting at their home in The Causeway, said he was totally unsatisfied with the way the police had dealt with any inquiries in connection with the family's problems over the last two years.

Mr Singh and his solicitor have already written to Wiltshire's chief constable Elizabeth Neville to demand answers, in particular to the investigation into the theft of Mr Singh's guns from his home in April 2001.

"This has been very sad for every member of the family. It has deeply affected everyone but I believe it could have been avoided and I think the police took sides and did not take the matter seriously. I really believe that if the police had found the guns, my brother would have been alive and my wife and I would not have been shot," said Mr Singh.

The family has received an acknowledgement of Mr Singh's letter from Wiltshire Constabulary but no answers have been given.

Mr Singh said a second more detailed letter would be sent from his solicitor in the next fortnight and he hoped this time a full and frank investigation would be launched.

"I am innocent, as both the Crown Prosecution and the coroner has confirmed but I do not feel my name has been cleared. Everyone thought I shot my brother and I did not. There is a lot more to this whole matter than has come out so far and through my solicitor I will be asking for answers for my family," said Mr Singh.

His wife, Dialo, 38, suffers every day lfrom her gunshot wounds. She continues to receive constant medical attention and faces further operations.