Police have arrested a man on suspision of murdering a Gloucestershire paedophile.
77-year-old John Coxon died two months after sustaining head injuries in an attack in his own home in Stonehouse, near Stroud, on 12 January this year.
He passed away at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital on 25 March, sparking a murder probe.
A suspect, a 64-year-old local man was at the time arrested on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm. He was yesterday (31 August) re-arrested by detectives and is being held on suspicion of the killing.
The victim was first before the courts in 2009, when he was convicted of possessing indecent images of children – but he failed to stop offending.
In 2016 he was jailed for 12 months for possessing 474 images indecent images of children on his computer before being jailed again (in 2017) for breaching a Sexual harm Prevention Order by talking to a seven-year-old girl.
For the rest of this week, a police presence is expected in the Park Lane area as detectives continue to carry out enquiries.
Detective Inspector Adam Stacey, of Gloucestershire Constabulary’s Major Crime Investigation Team (MCIT), said: “Over the coming days there will be a police presence at Mr Coxon’s address in Stonehouse while further searches take place there.
“We wanted to let the local community know why we’re in the area, and to also urge anyone who thinks they have information relating to Mr Coxon’s death to please come forward.
“You can contact us online or by calling us on 101, or if you’d prefer to provide information anonymously then you can contact Crimestoppers.
“We appreciate that we’re asking people to cast their minds back to January, in case they saw someone in the area or witnessed something.
“As Mr Coxon also died several months ago, we’re keen to hear from anyone who has heard anything about what led to his death.”
