Gordon Semple Detectives Charge Man With Murder After Policeman's Decomposed Remains Found

'Our world will be a worse place without him.'

A 49-year-old man has been charged with murder after the decomposed remains of Pc Gordon Semple were found in a flat.

The body of Pc Semple, 59, was found at a property in Southwark, south London, on Thursday, a week after he was reported missing.

Stefano Brizzi has been charged with murder after he was arrested at the address.

The gruesome discovery was made after a neighbour alerted Scotland Yard to a "smell of death" coming from the flat.

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Gordon Semple
Metropolitan Police/PA Wire

A joint statement from the victim's brother Ronnie and partner Gary Meeks described him as "a much loved partner, brother, brother-in-law, uncle and cousin" and added "our world will be a worse place without him".

Brizzi, of Peabody Estate, Southwark Street, will appear at Bromley Magistrates' Court on Monday April 11, The Press Association reported.

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Forensic officers at the scene
Jonathan Brady/PA Wire

Pc Semple, who had been with the Metropolitan Police for 30 years, left his home in Greenhithe, Dartford, to go to work in Westminster on Friday April 1, and visited the Shard's Shangri-La Hotel later that day.

He left at 12.30pm and was last seen on CCTV about two and a half hours later near London Bridge, a short distance from the property where he was found.

Thousands of people joined a Facebook group to help search for him, and his family spoke of their devastation following his death.

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CCTV footage of Semple before he disappeared
Metropolitan Police/PA Wire
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Footage showed Semple in Great Guildford Street near where his body was found
Metropolitan Police/PA Wire

Pc Semple was born in Scotland and came from Inverness, working for the Bank of Scotland as a young man before joining the police.

Met Commander Alison Newcomb previously said it will "take some time" to establish the cause of death due to the condition of the body.

 

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Forensic officers near the Southwark Street Estate where the remains of Pc Gordon Semple were found
Jonathan Brady/PA Wire
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A police forensic officer walks past residents
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Officers working on the scene
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Gordon Semple in a picture handed out by the Metropolitan Police
Metropolitan Police/PA Wire
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A police cordon at the estate
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Jonathan Brady/PA Wire