Murder trial jury sworn in after Inverness man killed in London
Police Constable Gordon Semple was born in the Highland capital
A jury has been sworn in for the trial of an Italian man accused of strangling and dismembering a police officer he met on gay dating app Grindr.
Stefano Brizzi, 50, allegedly killed 59-year-old PC Gordon Semple (pictured above) at his London flat some time between April 1 and April 7.
The officer went missing on April 1 and his remains were discovered a week later after a neighbour alerted Scotland Yard to a "smell of death" coming from a property on the Peabody Estate in Southwark Street, south London.
Brizzi denies murder and is on trial at the Old Bailey before Recorder of London Nicholas Hilliard QC.
A jury was sworn in and then told to return to court on Thursday morning when prosecutor Crispin Aylett QC will outline the case.
The trial is expected to last for around three weeks.
Mr Semple was originally from Inverness and had been with the Metropolitan Police for 30 years.