Doctor shot dead by boy in Turkey

A RETIRED doctor, on holiday in Turkey with his wife, was shot dead by a schoolboy in woodland at the resort of Gokova.

Michael Kettle, a 60-year- old consultant gynaecologist from Southsea, Hampshire, was killed by a 14-year-old boy who had apparently been out shooting birds. His wife, Frances, was badly shocked but managed to give police a description of the boy.

Later police arrested a boy who has a criminal record and a history of mental illness. The motive for the attack was not clear but the police were treating it as murder.

The Turkish newspaper Sabah quoted the arrested boy as saying he shot Mr Kettle by mistake.

The retired doctor, of Freestone Road, Southsea, had three grown-up children.

Staff at St Mary's Hospital, Portsmouth, where Mr Kettle was a consultant for nearly 27 years before his retirement on 24 May, were in tears yesterday, public relations manager Leigh Richardson said.

Richard Bishop, chief executive of Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust, said Mr Kettle was highly respected throughout the profession.