A SHORT film depicting the true story of a woman shot by her estranged husband, who then killed himself, was premiered in the North-East last night.

The film, I am Dead, is based on the final moments of Loraine Whiting. It was screened at the Tyneside Cinema, in Newcastle.

Written by first-time screenwriter Kerri Hayden, of Gosforth, Newcastle, it was one of eight short films made in the region as part of a Film Council scheme to foster emerging talent.

Ms Hayden was drawn to the story by a BBC documentary which told how Mrs Whiting was shot in the legs by her estranged husband at the home she shared with her boyfriend.

While armed police were forced initially to keep their distance, a woman in the ambulance control room talked to Mrs Whiting for about an hour. At one stage, she was heard to say 'I am dead'.

By the time police entered the house, in Sittingbourne, Kent, she had died.

The film, made for Newcastle's Superkrush Productions, is one of 15 chosen from 100 commissioned in the UK to be promoted at film festivals around the world.

Mrs Whiting is played by Val Googan and the control room woman by North-East actress Sarah Lawton.