Hove man arrested in burnt body murder probe (From The Argus)

Hove man arrested in burnt body murder probe

12:27pm Wednesday 8th September 2010 in

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A 21-year-old man from Hove has been arrested on suspicion of the murder of Stefan Welch, whose badly burnt body was found on the Dyke golf course near Brighton on Saturday.

Sussex Police said the man was arrested in Hove a few minutes before midday today.

He was being taken to Brighton custody suite for questioning by officers from Sussex Police major crime branch.

A post-mortem examination showed Mr Welch probably died from a blow to the head before he was found by golfers as they walked between the 17th and 18th holes at Dyke Golf Club on the outskirts of Brighton just before noon on Saturday.

Detectives believe he was murdered elsewhere before being taken to the golf club on the South Downs and set alight.

Mr Welch, who lived at the Phase One hostel in Oriental Place, Brighton, was a convicted drug dealer and was identified after a DNA sample provided a match on the national database.

Initial suspicions that Mr Welch had been mutilated proved false after detailed examination of the scene.

Officers believe a foot was removed by an animal as it dragged the body a few feet from the point at which his body was set alight.

A team of officers visited petrol stations in the area after it was established that some form of accelerant was used to torch him.

Police yesterday appealed to anyone who saw or talked to Mr Welch between Wednesday and Saturday last week to contact the investigating team.

Mr Welch was last seen at 2.30pm on Friday and police said it was "almost certain" that his body would have been transported to the golf club by vehicle.

Gavin Carey, 28, who used to live in the room next to Mr Welch, said: "He was a quiet lad, kept himself to himself but was in a bad way.

"Yet he was my friend and I would like to think he called me his friend. He was receiving a methadone script, and would have been on detox.

"It is awful to hear about him."