Published: 2013 April 02 11:17:49 (5631 Views)

A soldier lay dead in a van for four months despite several calls to police about the abandoned vehicle.

It was only when the local council was called in to remove the van from a pub car park that the body of Paul O'Brien, 42, was finally discovered.

Annette Gwinnett, landlady of the Lazy Otter pub, near Stretham, Cambs, UK, claimed she called police three times about the vehicle.

She said: "They said it was private land and not their problem.

"We tried and tried the mobile number on the side of the van but got no answer.

"That raised our suspicions. The police told us to phone the council."

Car breaker Terry Charlton made the grim discovery after the van was towed to his yard.

He said: "It was unpleasant, as you can imagine."

Mr O'Brien, from Cambridge, had left the Army but fought in the First Gulf War and served two tours in Northern Ireland.

On one mission, his best friend was killed and he carried his body for five miles when a helicopter could not get to them.

Police said they had no record of the calls made by Ms Gwinnett but revealed they did receive a report of concern for Mr O'Brien in January after he had not been seen since November.

They said his death was being treated as "non-suspicious".



- Mirror

You might also want to read this

• Teen crushed to death inside a rubbish truck
• Toddler drowns in bucket
• 80 year-old woman found dead at bottom of garbage chute
• 'White' boy who claimed to have been kidnapped by black people found dead
• Shock as 9-year-old is found hanging
• Man hit and killed by train
• Toddler found living with his mother's dead body

Comment as Anonymous | Comment With Facebook Submit

There are no comments.

Big Reads

© Copyright 2025 Zim Metro is not responsible for the content of external sites | Contact Us: editor@zimmetro.net | RSS Feeds | Sitemap