Met boss apologises over death of bus driver whose burnt body was found under north London bridge

Second inquiry: Kester David's burnt body was found under a bridge in north London in 2010
Metropolitan Police
Sebastian Mann11 January 2016
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Britain’s most senior police officer has personally apologised to the family of a bus driver whose burned body was found under a London railway arch five and a half years ago.

Scotland Yard said it had found “no credible evidence” Kester David - who was found under a bridge in Palmers Green, north London, in July 2010 - was murdered, but admitted not all questions had been answered.

It comes as the force announced it has completed its second investigation into his death.

The first inquiry, which concluded Mr David had taken his own life, was found by a Met internal investigation to have involved a “catalogue of errors” and a “failing of duty”.

It prompted the 53-year-old’s mother to accuse Scotland Yard of trying to cover up her son’s death because he was a police informant. Police have neither confirmed nor denied the claim.

On Monday, the force said commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe had met with Mr David's mother Winifred and brother Roger to make a personal apology for any distress they suffered during the first investigation. He said the force was also sorry for the failures of that inquiry.

Scotland Yard had been urged by watchdog the Independent Police Complaints Commission to apologise for its handling of the case.

Detective Chief Inspector Noel McHugh, the senior investigating officer, said the Yard’s second inquiry had paid “painstaking” attention to details.

"Not all questions have been answered but I believe we have taken all available lines of enquiry as far as is possible,” he said.

“We have taken 334 statements, generated and considered 1,536 documents and raised 1,177 actions for my investigation team to deal with.

“I have found no credible intelligence or evidence that would support the hypothesis that Kester was murdered.”

Mr David was found deceased and badly burnt on Broomfield Lane on July 7 2010. The previous night he had been spotted on CCTV purchasing a jerry can of petrol from a nearby service station, police said.

Nearly seven hours later an unidentified man who police believe to be Mr David was seen carrying a jerry can thought to contain petrol towards Broomfield Lane.

Scotland Yard has previously mounted appeals to trace two men seen near the scene in the hours before Mr David was found dead.

The pair have never been traced but the Met said officers were as “confident as they can be” that they were not linked to Mr David’s death.

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