The death was featured on Channel’s 5’s ‘Cause of Death’ series and saw Lancashire Police called to a field in Dean Brook, near to Horrobin Lane in Rivington, where the man’s body was found at around 2.50pm on December 7, 2023.
A dog walker found the man face down at the side of a wall and it was believed he had been there for a couple of days before his body was discovered.
The man was without a phone or wallet, leaving police with no indication as to his identity.
A dog walker found the man face down at the side of a wall and it was believed he had been there for a couple of days before his body was discovered.
The man was without a phone or wallet, leaving police with no indication as to his identity.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Hello, you've been to the police?
00:02Yeah, this is very serious.
00:05I'm walking down Deanwood Road.
00:08I've looked over the wall and I see a woolly sheep heart
00:12and there's a dead body over the wall.
00:15It's a male. He's been found face down at the side of a wall.
00:19It looks as though he's been there for a couple of days, I'd say.
00:22When we've searched him, there was no phone,
00:24there was no wallet on him to give us any indication who he is.
00:31It is very strange.
00:33His jacket had been taken off and placed over the top of him,
00:36almost like a quilt or a cover.
00:39He's got a pair of Wellington boots underneath him,
00:42which were no longer on his feet.
00:44Worryingly, his pants had been pulled down slightly
00:47and when we've rolled him over, he's got an injury to his cheek.
00:51He's also got quite a significant injury to his ear.
00:56There was a pair of pliers which were found next to him,
00:59so you've got to look for torture injuries.
01:04The body was laid against the wall
01:06and the wall itself is at the side of a single-track road.
01:10It's not far from a car park, so you're asking yourself,
01:14has someone taken him there in a vehicle
01:16and effectively placed him over the wall to hide him?
01:21So, it is strange.
01:25The weather today is absolutely awful.
01:27It's lashing down with rain, sideways wind,
01:30so we've had to forensically recover him
01:32and take him through to the mortuary.
01:41It's absolutely awful to think that someone's been up there
01:44on their own for two days, so it's our job now
01:46to try and identify him as quickly as we can
01:48and establish what's happened to him.
01:55Hello, Paul.
01:59I'm fine, thanks.
02:13Do we have any idea who he is?
02:25Nothing on missing persons?
02:32OK. Do we have any idea how long he's been there?
02:36I'd say he's been there for just a couple of days.
02:40There's slight decomposition, which has already started.
02:43He had a little bit of his ear missing and an injury to his face
02:46and I'm not happy with it, so I'm coming to you
02:49just to request a home office, if that's OK.
02:52I agree entirely. I think you need a home office.
02:57Cases like this are extremely unusual.
03:00If you think about the ID that you have on you
03:04if you were out and suddenly died,
03:07you'd have your phone on you, you'd have bank cards on you,
03:10you might have a driving licence on you,
03:12you could have receipts as to where you've been shopping.
03:17This is a man who's found alongside a wall in a field in Rivington
03:22in terrible weather and we have no idea at all who he is.