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Gordon Semple: Police officer 'strangled and dismembered by man he met on Grindr'

Police were alerted to a 'smell of death' coming from a south London property

Emily Pennink
Wednesday 13 April 2016 13:36 BST
Gordon Semple was last seen on 1 April after attending a work meeting
Gordon Semple was last seen on 1 April after attending a work meeting

An Italian-born man will go on trial accused of strangling and dismembering a Met police officer after meeting him on the gay dating website Grindr.

Stefano Brizzi, 49, is accused of killing Pc Gordon Semple at his flat on a day between 1 April and 7 April.

Brizzi, a social worker, appeared in court wearing dark sunglasses and a grey tracksuit, and was flanked by three dock officers.

The judge set a timetable for the case with a provisional trial date of 18 October.

A plea and case management hearing was fixed for 29 June.

The defendant was remanded in custody ahead of a further hearing on 20 April.

Pc Semple, 59, was originally from Inverness in Scotland and had been with the Metropolitan Police for 30 years.

He went missing on 1 April and his remains were discovered a week later after a neighbour alerted Scotland Yard to a "smell of death" coming from a property on the Peabody Estate in Southwark Street, south London.

PA

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