Gordon Semple: Police officer 'strangled and dismembered by man he met on Grindr'
Police were alerted to a 'smell of death' coming from a south London property
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails
Sign up to our free breaking news emails
Sign up to our free breaking news emails
An Italian-born man will go on trial accused of strangling and dismembering a Met police officer after meeting him on the gay dating website Grindr.
Stefano Brizzi, 49, is accused of killing Pc Gordon Semple at his flat on a day between 1 April and 7 April.
Brizzi, a social worker, appeared in court wearing dark sunglasses and a grey tracksuit, and was flanked by three dock officers.
The judge set a timetable for the case with a provisional trial date of 18 October.
A plea and case management hearing was fixed for 29 June.
The defendant was remanded in custody ahead of a further hearing on 20 April.
Pc Semple, 59, was originally from Inverness in Scotland and had been with the Metropolitan Police for 30 years.
He went missing on 1 April and his remains were discovered a week later after a neighbour alerted Scotland Yard to a "smell of death" coming from a property on the Peabody Estate in Southwark Street, south London.
PA