Murder victim's body lay undiscovered despite tip-off

The body of Michael Wheeler, 37, was found in a derelict caravan on farmland

The body of a murder victim lay undiscovered for weeks despite police being alerted to someone calling for help, according to the police watchdog.

A report by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said Avon and Somerset Police officers were refused entry to a flat in Yeovil on 24 August 2024 after receiving an anonymous call saying someone had been heard shouting "call the police".

Just over three weeks later, the force received another anonymous tip-off to say there was a dead body at the same address.

The body of Michael Wheeler, 37, was later found in a derelict caravan on farmland in Yarlington on 25 September of that year, after several people had been arrested.

Mr Wheeler, who was last seen alive on the day of the police's first tip-off and visit, was murdered by his friends Mark Roberts and David Garland after they mistakenly believed he was a paedophile.

The defendants had read news coverage of a man with the same name, who was jailed in 2003 for grooming and sexually abusing two 13-year-old girls, police said.

Mr Wheeler had no convictions for child sexual offences and had only been 16 years old in 2003, police added.

Mark Roberts, 39, of Juniper Close in Yeovil, Somerset, and David Garland, 40, of no fixed abode, were sentenced to life in prison in June.

David Garland and Mark Roberts were sentenced to life in prison in June

The IOPC investigation, which comes after a mandatory referral from Avon and Somerset Police, said an officer had spoken to the man outside the property, who said he lived at the address and refused to let them inside.

They later received anonymous information about a dead body at the same address, suggesting the man had been murdered two or three weeks before.

"Inquiries were carried out, but police were unable to locate a body," the report said.

Several arrests were later made, including the man who was initially visited by the officer, and a short time later a body was found.

The IOPC said it had concluded its investigation in March and was in the process of informing the people involved of the outcome.