Siege gunman: The golden barrister couple who seemed to have it all but whose private lives were falling apart

12 April 2012

They were the golden barrister couple who seemed to have it all: the highly successful legal careers, dark-haired good-looks, talent, wealth and privilege.

But beneath the facade of their seemingly happy marriage lay deep-seated problems with alcoholism and depression that Mark Saunders, 32, is said to have been battling with for a number of years.

His recent marriage to Elizabeth Clarke, a highly successful fellow barrister in her own right, began to break down because of his all-day drinking binges.

The couple are believed to have been living apart for several months before yesterday's siege at their flat in Markham Square, West London.

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Golden couple: Barrister Mark Saunders, who was shot dead yesterday, and his wife Elizabeth Clarke

"He loved her very much but could not contain his greater love of red wine and whisky, and at all times of day."

Sources in the legal world added that the barrister was a "binge alcoholic" who suffered-from depression. He was said to have had a particular weakness for red wine and whisky and to have recently "fallen off the wagon."

It is understood he was once cautioned by police for being drunk and disorderly. There were also suggestions that his drinking was putting his marriage under strain.

Mr Saunders was educated at the £2,785-a-term King's School in Macclesfield and Christ Church, Oxford.

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Workplace: The couple were both tenants at QEB Chambers, which is locaed in this building in Central London

Contemporaries at Oxford recall a "loud, posh and really clever" student who was "very popular with the ladies".

One said last night: "He was so good looking, funny and confident that he always had women after him at Oxford.

Quite a few of them went a bit loopy when he tried to break it off with them.

Another friend said: "Before he met Elizabeth he was a huge ladies man and very promiscuous. He would chat up women on the train home after work, take them for a drink and end up in bed with them that night."

Mr Saunders was called to the Bar in 1999, the year that he also joined the Honourable Artillery Company of the Territorial Army.

Danger: A masked police officer on Tuesday evening

During his three years in the company, described as the "most prestigious TA regiment in the British Army", he would have undergone extensive weapons training.

But sources at the Ministry of Defence confirmed that he had never been deployed on any operations and had never served in Iraq.

Mr Saunders was quickly identified as a rising star at QEB chambers and described in legal publications as "quiet but firm"; "absolutely terrific" and "a particularly good advocate who has an engaging style with clients".

One fellow lawyer said last night: "He was annoying to be against because he was so very persuasive. Advocacy came naturally to him."

As his reputation grew he became close to Miss Clarke, a senior colleague specialising in matrimonial finance.

She is rated by the legal guide Chambers and Partners as "an absolute superstar (who) frightens the opposition through her considered paperwork and first-rate judgment".

Friends were surprised when they became an item. Both were Oxford graduates, but Mr Saunders was a public school educated shooting enthusiast while his wife was a printer's daughter who went to a comprehensive and was said to have Left-wing views.

A friend said: "She's a talented, generous spirited woman. It's amazing that she should find herself at the centre of something like this.

"She is a very level-headed individual, rooted in a normal background and upbringing - diligent and hardworking."

The "golden couple" married at Chelsea Register Office on August 5, 2006. Their first home was a maisonette nearby, but in October last year they spent £2.28million on the flat in Markham Square.

The square was once the home of James Bond author Ian Fleming. Kingsley Amis used the 'nom de plume' Robert Markham when he wrote his only Bond novel, Colonel Sun.

The freehold of the couple's flat is owned by neighbour Miss Winkworth, a director of the ballet shoe company French Sole.

Miss Winkworth, who has designed shoes for Princess Diana, Sarah Jessica Parker and Madonna, said she had heard Mr Saunders arrive home.

"Half an hour to 45 minutes later he started shooting into the garden. At first I thought it was just an air gun and that he was shooting at pigeons.

"But after he fired the second one I knew it was a proper gun. I screamed at him to stop, then ran into the house and called the police."

She added: "The shots were very loud. It was very distressing and terrifying. Around 7 o'clock he threw down a white box and written on it in black felt tip pen were the words, I love my wife dearly. X X X."

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