Italian social worker denies murdering policeman he met on gay dating app and chopping up his body
Trial of defendant accused of killing PC Gordon Semple set to begin next month
AN ITALIAN social worker accused of strangling a policeman and chopping up his body after the pair met on gay dating app Grindr has denied murder.
Stefano Brizzi, 50, allegedly killed 59-year-old PC Gordon Semple before dismembering his body.
Police found PC Semple's remains near communal bins after neighbours complained of a "smell of death", a week after the officer disappeared.
PC Semple, from Greenhithe, Dartford, was reported missing by his partner Gary Meeks on Friday April 1 after he failed to come home from work.
Balding and clean-shaven Brizzi, appeared at the Old Bailey by videolink from Belmarsh prison today.
He wore spectacles, a pink shirt over a white T-shirt and dark jeans.
Brizzi spoke to confirm his name and sat with his hands clasped throughout the brief hearing.
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When the charge of murder was put to him by the court clerk, Brizzi shook his head and replied "Not guilty".
Brizzi's trial is expected to begin on Tuesday October 18 and last between seven and ten days.
"The defendant is charged with the murder of a police officer who he met, it would seem, through Grindr," prosecutor Crispin Aylett QC said at an earlier hearing.
"The Crown allege the defendant strangled the victim then dismembered his body."
PC Semple, originally from Inverness, Scotland, had worked in the banking industry before joining the Met.
He was attached to a Westminster Council anti-social behaviour unit.
After the family announced his death on Facebook, his brother, Ronnie Semple, said: "I would like to thank everyone for their kind thoughts during the past dreadful week.
"It has been a terrible time for us all, especially Gary.
"Gordon will be sadly missed by all of his immediate family, his colleagues in the Met Police, former Bank of Scotland colleagues in Inverness and London, friends from his Tartan Army Days, but most of all the hardest loss is for Gary at this time."
Brizzi, of Southwark Street, Bermondsey, was remanded in custody.
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