LONDON, Jan 29: A Gulf War veteran who suffered mental problems after leaving the army admitted on Monday shooting dead four members of his family at close range with a handgun fitted with a silencer.

David Bradley, 41, from Newcastle, pleaded guilty to four counts of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility at Newcastle Crown Court.

The former soldier killed Peter Purcell and his wife Josephine, both aged 70, and their sons Keith, 44, and Glen, 41, at their home in Newcastle last July.

They were his uncle, his aunt and two cousins and Bradley had been living with them at the time of the shootings.

Bradley, who served in the first Gulf War, Bosnia and Northern Ireland, was arrested after walking into a police station carrying a pistol, shotgun and homemade bomb.

He was charged with murder. He denied that charge but admitted manslaughter after psychiatrists ruled that he was mentally ill at the time of the shootings.

The case was adjourned until Feb 26, for psychiatric reports.

Bradley was reported to have suffered mood swings, nightmares and depression after leaving the army.

The Purcells' surviving children, Peter and Jacqueline, said the shootings had devastated the family.

“To lose your mother and father and both brothers in such circumstances opens up a huge void, which can only be filled with sadness, sorrow, grief and anger,” they said in a statement released by police last year.

—Reuters