Police officers commended

Two detectives who helped bring the killer of a homeless former soldier in Canterbury to justice have been commended for their “exemplary” investigation.

DCI Tony Pledger and DC Geoff Mccreery were put on the case following the murder of 59-year-old Philip Fox.

His badly decomposed body was found in a tent in dense undergrowth near Riverside Retail Park in Wincheap in April 2016. He had been blasted with a shotgun the previous August by Richard Donovan.

After he was convicted and jailed for life, judge Adele Williams praised the officers for an exemplary investigation in difficult circumstances.

Now DCI Pledger and DC Mccreery have received commendations from the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate.