Motorist found shot dead at wheel

A man was found dead in a van with a bullet wound in his head and a gun inside the vehicle, police said.

The man was found after a motorist reported seeing a driver of a van slumped over the wheel in a lay-by in the A22 near the Caterham junction.

Detectives said they treated all sudden deaths as suspicious until they could establish otherwise.

The man, who has been named as Stephen Lowe, 44, from Mitcham, Surrey was found on Friday at about 0830 BST.

'Sudden death'

A post-mortem examination carried out the following day confirmed the man had a bullet wound in his head.

Det Ch Insp Brian Marjoram, from Surrey Police, said: "The circumstances of this sudden death are not yet clear and we have a duty to establish as far as we can, what happened, not least for the family of the deceased.

"All such sudden deaths are treated as suspicious until we can establish otherwise.

"This is particularly so where firearms are involved and in this case a hand gun was found next to the body."

Police want to speak to anyone who used the lay-by or saw the van parked between 1900 BST on Thursday and 0700 BST on Friday.

They also want to speak to anyone who had telephone contact with Mr Lowe on the afternoon before he was found.