House searched for human remains

Digging was expected to begin on Wednesday

Police are searching for human remains at the former south London home of a convicted paedophile.

Officers acted on an anonymous letter claiming remains linked to events 35 years ago were buried there.

A forensic archaeologist is among a team which will dig up the garden in Walton Green in New Addington, Croydon.

Leslie Ford-Thrussell, 72, lived there for 17 years before being jailed in 2004 for sex crimes against children. He was not the tenant 35 years ago.

The letter was received by police 12 months ago, but Det Ch Insp Mark Stockford, from Croydon CID, said they had wanted to establish the facts before disturbing the family who were living at the address.

I think about my two babies and it just scares me Nicola Nunn, neighbour Families fear garden burials

"We are not certain that an offence has been committed," he said.

"We are taking a proportionate response to information that indicates that an offence may have been committed."

No arrests have been made and no-one has been interviewed under caution by police about the investigation.

Police said they had identified the author of the letter and investigated the "full circumstances" of the allegations.

They have reviewed missing person files from 35 years ago, the time of events mentioned in the letter, said Det Ch Insp Stockford.

Police have sealed off the house while they make searches

"There is nothing to link any one of those that are currently outstanding with anyone from this address," he said.

Ford-Thrussell was a tenant in Walton Green until 2004. He is now serving a 12-year jail term for sex crimes committed against children aged 13 and under from 1986 to 2003.

He was found guilty of 36 sexual offences including rape, indecent assault, gross indecency with a child and taking and making obscene images.

Next-door neighbour and mother-of-two Nicola Nunn said she had thought Ford-Thrussell was a "very friendly, nice old man".

"We obviously knew about his conviction but this is something else altogether," she said.

I hope he dies in jail so he can't mess up any other children's lives 14-year-old victim of Ford-Thrussell

"I think about my two babies and it just scares me."

One of Ford-Thrussell's victims, a 14-year-old girl, wrote a letter describing the abuse, which her mother passed to her local newspaper, the Croydon Advertiser, after she helped to convict him.

In the letter she said: "I am a victim of Les Ford-Thrussell and I hate his guts. I am happy that he got 12 years because he can't get me any more.

"He messed me up and I still cry every night because of him. I hope he dies in jail so he can't mess up any other children's lives."

The most recent tenants moved out about three months ago, leaving the council-owned property empty. They are not connected to the operation, police said.

Officers delivered leaflets to local people informing them the operation may take several days, offering reassurance and asking them to contact police with any concerns.

Scotland Yard would not confirm what specialist equipment would be used in the survey, expected to begin on Wednesday morning.

Correction, 4 October 2007. An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Ford-Thrussell admitted 41 offences.