Shooting was 'unlawful killing'

A Suffolk coroner has recorded a verdict of unlawful killing after the son of a millionaire was shot dead by carjackers in South Africa.

Gary Toleman, 41, from Gedding near Stowmarket, was shot in front of his fiancée in October last year.

Coroner Dr Peter Dean told the inquest in Bury St Edmunds on Thursday that taking into account the circumstances, unlawful killing was the only appropriate verdict.

The attack took place on the forecourt of a garage at Hazy View, a two-and-a-half mile drive from Johannesburg, close to where Mr Toleman was helping to run a banana plantation.

Truck abandoned

Mr Toleman was shot in front of his fiancée Marlet Jordaan, just a few hundred yards from his home.

His killers stole his Toyota pick-up truck - said to be worth less than £2,000 - and abandoned it near the murder scene after its anti-theft system became activated.

Mr Toleman was declared dead at the scene of the shooting, and the inquest was told that an investigation by the police in South Africa was ongoing.

His father, Ted, once ran Suffolk's biggest fleet of car transporters and set up the Formula One Toleman team which gave Ayrton Senna his break in motor racing.

The family moved to a farm near the Kruger National Park from Suffolk 10 years ago when Mr Toleman sold his transport business.