POLICE have this morning named a man whose body was found inside the chimney of a Derby solicitors' firm as Kevin Gough. It is thought that the 42-year-old was a would-be burglar.
Police said they believed the body of Mr Gough had been inside the chimney at Moody & Woolley Solicitors, in St Mary's Gate, for about four weeks.
Staff had noticed a bad smell but thought it was a pigeon that was blocking the chimney.
But, when pest control workers were called, it turned out to be the body of a man.
Police said they were keeping an "open mind" as to circumstances surrounding the death.
However, the force did confirm the investigation was focusing on the theory that the man died following an attempted burglary that went horrifically wrong.
Last night, senior partner at Moody & Woolley, Julie Marson, said that it appeared to be an "awful" tragedy.
She said: "It's such a dreadful way for anybody to die, regardless of what the chap was trying to do.
"We really, sincerely hope it does put people off doing this kind of thing. This seems to have been a very dedicated attempt to break into the building and it's had the most awful ending."
The body was found at lunchtime on Wednesday.
Last night, Ms Marson admitted she was still trying to get her head around the discovery.
"It's just been absolutely bizarre, quite frankly," she said.
"We had noticed over the last week or so a smell first thing in the morning. We opened the window and the smell disappeared.
"But, on Monday morning, we decided to get a builder in.
"He opened up the side of the chimney to have a look and, when he got up on to the roof to look down, he could see something was blocking it. We thought it may have been a pigeon so we got a pest control guy to come and that's when we realised it looked like it might be a human body.
"That's when we called the police.
"A couple of officers came round and they confirmed it was a body."
Ms Marson admitted she felt horrified.
"To think that poor chap could have been there for days," she said. "It's an awful thought. We just hope he passed away quickly.
"You wouldn't wish this on your worst enemy.
"The message we would like to get over is that all our fire places are sealed off, so please don't try to break in via the chimney because you won't be able to get out again.
"We hope this puts people off trying this sort of thing."
Ms Marson praised the response of the firm's staff.
She said: "It's been a shock for them but they've been very good. We operate from two buildings so we moved staff away from the chimney."
One worker at neighbouring firm Simpson Jones said: "I saw one police car outside the building yesterday but I did not know a body was found. It's awful."
