Tunisia gunman was '˜smiling'

Gunman Seifeddine Rezgui calmly stalked the beach at the Mediterranean resort of Sousse, reloading his automatic rifle and shooting at helpless tourists at the five-star Riu Imperial Marhaba Hotel on June 26 2015, an inquest heard.

Tourist Stephen Leake said he spotted Rezgui from about 20ft away.

Mr Leake said, in a statement read out at London’s Royal Courts of Justice: “His teeth were white not yellow. He seemed to be smiling.”

Rezgui killed 38 tourists in total. Mr Leake saw him “scatter” his shots but said he did not seem to be a “professional” gunman.

At one point, as Mr Leake fled and tripped in the sand, he could hear the “ting ting” of the bullets as they bounced off a nearby metal fence.

He managed to hide in a spa where he saw two terrified women - one was hiding in a locker and another was cowering behind a door.

The inquest is set to hear evidence today over the killings of Blackpool couple Denis and Elaine Thwaites today.