A man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after the remains of a missing police officer were discovered at a property in south London.
The 49-year-old suspect is being questioned after being arrested at the property where PC Gordon Semple’s remains were found, and where forensic searches are continuing on Friday.
Semple, 59, left his home in Greenhithe in Dartford, Kent, on 1 April to go to Westminster, where he worked for the city council’s antisocial behaviour team. His partner reported him missing after he failed to return home.
In a statement outside New Scotland Yard on Friday, Commander Alison Newcomb said: “Due to the condition of the human remains it will take some time for the cause of death to be established and formal identification to take place.”
She added: “This is obviously a significant development and we have informed Gordon’s family and his colleagues.”
Newcomb said she would not speculate as to what happened to Semple. “Yesterday a forensic search started at the address and is ongoing; it will take some time for us to complete that work,” she said. “It is a vital search for evidence.”
She continued: “Our thoughts are with Gordon’s family and friends at this personal time of tragedy. This is a very sad day for Gordon’s colleagues. There are many officers who have served with Gordon in London during his 30-year career.”
Semple was last seen at 3pm on Friday when he was seen on CCTV on Great Guildford Street near London Bridge, half a mile from the Shard. He had left the 95-storey tower at about 12.30pm after an on-duty meeting at the Shangri-La hotel in the building.
Detectives had been trying to establish where the Scottish-born officer was in the hours between his departure from the Shard and the last sighting of him on CCTV. On Friday morning the investigation was focused on the Peabody housing estate in Southwark.
The area was cordoned off by police overnight in Thursday, and forensic investigators have since been seen around the property.
Martin Harris, whose brother Stephen lives in the same block as the suspect, told the Guardian on Friday that he called the police when he was alerted to a foul smell emanating from one of the flats.
The 49-year-old former scaffolder said: “I went round there and you could smell it.” He claimed that he spoke to a man in the flat at the centre of police inquiries, who said the smell came from his cooking.
He added that the man who answered the door was dressed in nothing but a pair of Speedo-style swimming trunks.
Heather Brown, 55, who also lives on the estate, said the suspect lit candles outside the property. “He had put scented candles outside his flat because of the smell,” she said. “Martin knocked on the door because they just smelt this horrible smell.”
Brown, a manager at stationers Ryman, added: “I go to work and leave my windows open because on this estate there’s never any problems. I’ve lived here 30 years and it’s a very quiet estate and a very quiet community. It’s very unusual.”
Another resident in the estate, which comprises private and housing association accommodation, said emergency services were at the scene on Thursday. Lauren Ingram said a man was seen being transferred from an ambulance to a police van outside the property.
She said forensic officers were seen searching through the estate’s shared bins.
Ronnie Semple, the officer’s brother, said on Friday his death left the world a “worse place”. He said Semple’s partner Gary and the rest of the family were now grieving.
Other members of the Semple family, some of whom live in Inverness, set up a Facebook appeal page but were asked by the Met not to talk to the media
His niece Kerry Nicholas had told Kent Online on Wednesday: “We are very concerned. It’s very out of character for Gordon not to get in touch with anybody. He had been at a meeting in the Shangri-La. He’s very outgoing, sociable and friendly. He’s a happy-go-lucky kind of guy.
“Nothing like this has happened before. There’s absolutely no reason for him to go missing. At the moment we are just concerned about his wellbeing.”
