Murder hunt launched as body found in suitcase

A murder investigation has been launched after the body of a62-year-old man was found in a suitcase buried in Bournemouth – the latest incident in a "sudden escalation of quite horrific violence" in the seaside town.

Richard Emery, an unemployed alcoholic, had been missing for more than a month with police appealing for information as far away as Lancashire and Devon.

But on Saturday, after two days searching a footpath near the sheltered housing block where Mr Emery lived, they found his body.

Magistrates granted detectives a further 36 hours to question two people from the area – a 46-year-old woman and a 34-year-old man – who were arrested on Friday in connection with the investigation.

On 6 May, Irene Hawkes, 82, was found dead from head and chest injuries in suspicious circumstances at her home in Kinson, Bournemouth.

Claire Smith, a Bournemouth councillor, said there had recently been a rape and a stabbing. "To have this sudden escalation of quite horrific violence really does affect people."