Body is found after street horror

A MURDER inquiry is under way following the discovery of a body after a man showed a severed hand to passers-by in a city street.

By The Newsroom Wednesday, 7th April 2004, 2:00 am Updated Wednesday, 7th April 2004, 5:05 pm

Police were called after horrified witnesses in Leith Walk alerted officers.

Inquiries led police to a house in Prospect Bank Road, Restalrig, where they discovered a body. Detectives refused to say how the victim, who is believed to be a man in his 50s named William Meldrum, died, but it is believed he was stabbed to death. A man was today being held in custody and helping police with their inquiries.

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The man being questioned is understood to be Alan Smith, who is in his mid-30s.

In November, 2000, Mr Smith walked into the Mermaid Chip Shop in Leith Walk with his severed penis in his hand.

Chip shop staff alerted the emergency services and he was rushed to St Johns Hospital in Livingston, where reconstructive surgery is believed to have been carried out.

Today, police were guarding the entrance to the house as forensic officers erected a screen around the front of the building to preserve the crime scene.

Detectives are now trying to piece together the victim’s movements prior to his death and have appealed for anyone who saw anything suspicious to contact them.

A police source said: "Two passers-by happened upon a man in the street and got talking to him.

"A few moments later, he produced a severed hand which, of course, startled the people who immediately called police.

"Officers’ inquiries led them to the house in Prospect Bank Road where they discovered the body."

A spokesman for Lothian and Borders Police said: "The body of a man was found at 3.30am this morning at Prospect Bank Road. It is being treated as suspicious and a man is helping police with their inquiries and it is expected a post mortem will take place later to establish the cause of death.

"We would appeal to anyone who may have seen or heard anything suspicious in the street from last night to contact police."

Forensic experts carried out a thorough search of the house and surrounding area but it is not yet known if a murder weapon has been discovered.