Gangland connection susected in case of body on beach

DETECTIVES in Kent investigating the murder of a man whose badly decomposed body was washed up on a beach are examining the possibility that he may have been the victim of gangland rivalry, writes Ian MacKinnon.

The man, in his forties or early fifties, was blasted twice in the chest with a shotgun at point-blank range before being dumped into the sea from a boat up to two weeks ago. His body was discovered wrapped in sheet and tied with ropes on Sunday morning by an off-duty special constable walking along the shore at Sheerness.

A post-mortem examination found that he had died from chest injuries caused by at least two gun shots. But Detective Superintendent Nick Biddis, who is leading the inquiry, told a press conference yesterday that it was not possible to say if the man had been shot at sea or was dead before he was put on the boat.

Officers were yesterday sifting through missing persons' files and conducting house-to-house inquiries to try to identify the man. However, the poor condition of the body made the task difficult.