Headless corpse was teenage boy

Headless corpse was teenage boy

A dismembered, headless body found dumped in a bin at the back of a hotel in Blackpool was that of a teenage boy, police said yesterday.

Police have identified him as 17-year-old Christopher Hartley, who had been working at the resort's Pleasure Beach.

The naked body, which had been cut in two with a sharp instrument, was discovered on Tuesday.

The man leading the investigation, Detective Superintendent Paul Buschini, said a post-mortem had not been able to establish how the teenager died.

Police were yesterday conducting house-to-house inquiries of nearby bedsits and hotels to try to find clues as to where the youngster might have met his death. They were also continuing to search for the missing head. It is believed fingerprints were used to identify the boy.

Christopher had gone to Blackpool from his home in Burnley, Lancashire, seeking work.