Dead surfer on child porn arrest

Richard Carrington's body was found in Kimmeridge Bay on Thursday

A firefighter found dead attached to a surfboard in a Dorset bay had been arrested days earlier on suspicion of possessing indecent images of children.

The body of Richard Carrington, 38, was spotted floating in Kimmeridge Bay by a passer-by on Thursday afternoon.

Mr Carrington, known as "Blakey", lived in Southampton with his wife and daughter. He was a firefighter for 19 years based at Hightown in the city.

He was arrested by Hampshire officers on 6 October and released on bail.

'Huge loss'

A force spokeswoman said: "Hampshire Constabulary can confirm that a 38-year-old man from Southampton was arrested by police on Tuesday, 6 October.

"He was interviewed on suspicion of possessing indecent images of children and was bailed until 13 April, 2010."

Mr Carrington's camper-van was found parked near where his body was found.

Sea conditions were flat at the time and police believe his body may have been in the water since the previous day.

Chief officer of the fire service, John Bonney, had described Mr Carrington's death as "a huge loss".

Dorset Police said there were no suspicious circumstances.

An inquest opened into Mr Carrington's death by the coroner for Bournemouth, Poole and east Dorset gave the cause of death as "unascertained, subject to toxicological tests results".