Support for shot solicitor

Wiltshire solicitor James Ward (pictured) remains in a serious condition after being shot in his office last week. The principal partner at Morris Goddard & Ward began breathing on his own on Tuesday for the first time since the attack but remained in a coma, local colleagues said.

The 58-year-old was shot at his desk in the firm’s office in Devizes on 2 July.

Roger Chadwick, president of the Gloucestershire and Wiltshire Law Society and a partner at neighbouring firm Awdry Bailey & Douglas, described Ward as a ‘friendly, happy guy’. He said messages of support had come in from across the region and beyond.

Michael Chudley, 62, from Rowde, Wiltshire, has been charged with attempted murder, threats to kill, possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence and carrying a firearm with criminal intent.