THIS WEEK IN 1983: Portsmouth drivers ignored tragic OAP

Motorists in Portsmouth who saw an elderly, poorly-clad pensioner walking on rough land in freezing rain and sleet, ignored him '“ and one day later police discovered his body where he died.

By The Newsroom

Published 7th Feb 2017, 06:00 BST

Police said that if only people who saw him had told someone, the elderly pensioner might still be alive.

It was early on Sunday afternoon, when 72-year-old Norman Stuart left the Samuel Lodge residential home, Plover Reach, Milton, for a walk and never returned.

He was reported to police as missing, and a search began for him. It was known that he had only his carpet slippers and a cardigan on, against the driving rain and sleet.

After news of his disappearance went out on radio and breakfast television, several people contacted police to say they had seen a man answering his description walking near Eastern Road.

A police spokesman said: ‘These people reported having seen him yesterday evening walking by the slip road near the Eastern Road roundabout, but they contacted us only this morning.’

A day later, police officers went to where the man had been seen – and found his body by the roadside.