BRIZZI: ACCUSED GAY COP SLAYER SPEAKS

An Italian web developer accused of murdering and dismembering a policeman entered the witness box at the Old Bailey today (FRI) to ask for new lawyers.

Stefano Brizzi, 49, allegedly murdered PC Gordon Semple at his south London flat after arranging a meeting on a gay dating website.

The officer’s remains were found dissolving in a bath of acid after police were alerted to a ‘smell of death’ coming from the Peabody Trust Estate in Borough on 7 April.

Brizzi, wearing dark glasses and a grey tracksuit, appeared in court for a an application to change his legal representation.

He was invited into the box by the judge to confirm he wanted to switch from MK Law to Murrays Partnership.

Flanked by three custody officers, he told the court he had been recommended Murrays by a friend.

‘I have been locked in Belmarsh for nearly a month with no contact with the outside world.I wasn’t allowed to make a phone call,’ he said.

‘I was in mental and emotional turmoil and I still am quite inexperienced with the UK legal system. Murrays would be better equipped to handle my issues.’

Judge Marks said he would give his decision later today by email.

PC Semple, originally from Inverness in Scotland, was last seen leaving London’s Shard at 12.30pm after an on-duty meeting at the five-star Shangri-La hotel.

The officer, who lived with partner Gary Meeks, in Greenhithe, Kent, was attached to a Westminster Council anti-social behaviour unit.

Brizzi, of the Peabody Trust Estate, Borough, southeast London, is due to stand trial at the Old Bailey on 18 October 2016.