Elisabeth Mann told an inquest into the death of husband Alan that warnings about his spiralling condition were not taken seriously enough.

She said at one point she told officials bluntly: "We have hours here, not days. We are desperate."

Shortly afterwards, he was found dead from a gunshot wound to his head, close to a Men's Shed community project he had been attending for support.

Mr Mann was a frequent visitor to the Men's Shed (Image: Web)

Mr Mann was a frequent visitor to the Men's Shed (Image: Web)

The inquest, at Norfolk Coroner's Court, was told Mr Mann, a company director, had suffered from ME and longstanding depression.

The hearing was told of a string of missed opportunities in the days leading up to his death, as his mental health rapidly declined and he and his family urgently sought help.

Mr Mann being repeatedly rejected for urgent NHS care with clinicians suggesting this is because he was already receiving private healthcare.

His GP not notifying police or the mental health crisis team that he had a shotgun licence, as his condition worsened.

Police, when later told by Mr Mann's sister-in-law that he was suicidal and had a shotgun, not passing this information to the firearms licensing unit, which would have prompted an immediate visit. Alan Mann on his wedding day in 2006 (Image: Supplied)

Police, when later told by Mr Mann's sister-in-law that he was suicidal and had a shotgun, not passing this information to the firearms licensing unit, which would have prompted an immediate visit.

Alan Mann on his wedding day in 2006 (Image: Supplied)

Norfolk police headquarters (Image: Newsquest)

In an emotional statement, Mrs Mann described the man she met in Bungay in 2000. “His smile stood out, it melted my heart,” she said.

The couple married in 2006 and built a life together, with Mr Mann supporting her floristry business while battling chronic illness and helping to run the family mushroom farm in Flordon, as well as the Buck Inn pub, in Flixton, where the couple........

© Norwich Evening News