UPDATE: Murder investigation after man's body found in Plymouth

A MURDER inquiry has been launched after a man's body was discovered in a Stoke flat.

Officers were called to the terraced house in Molesworth Road shortly after 1am today following a call from a member of the public.

In a flat in the multi-occupancy building, officers found the body of a man aged 33, believed to be a resident of the property.

Police say they are unable to name the man at this stage as a formal identification has not been carried out.

However, the man's family are understood to have been informed of his death.

Detectives have been keen to stress that the victim and those arrested on suspicion of his murder – a man aged 50 and a woman aged 29 – are known to each other.

Devon and Cornwall Police have also referred the case to the Independent Police Complaints Commission as both the deceased man and those arrested had recently come to the police's attention.

The investigation, codenamed Operation Locomotive, is being run by Plymouth Local Investigation Team (LIT) with assistance by detectives from the Major Crime Investigation Team (MCIT).

Det Chief Insp Paul Bean, who is heading the investigation, said: "This is the very early stages of a murder investigation and as you can appreciate I am limited to what I can share with the public at this time.

"I want to reassure the local community that the two suspects and victim were all known to each other.

"I can also share with you that all three had recently come to the attention of police for an earlier incident.

"At this time I am unable to give further details, but this will form a line of enquiry in my investigation.

"As a consequence of this I have referred this incident to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

"Local neighbourhood officers and PCSOs have been patrolling the area, to reassure local residents.

"There are a number of specific lines of enquiry that the investigation team is following.

"This includes carrying out house to house enquiries and looking into the relationship history of the deceased and the two suspects.

"In addition there is some complex forensic retrieval and analysis being carried out."

A forensic post mortem has been carried out today at Derriford Hospital by a Home Office pathologist in an attempt to identify the cause of death.

Det Chief Insp Bean added: "I appreciate local people would like to know more details but at this time we must allow the investigation to run its course and not allow ourselves to be drawn into speculation.

"I will endeavour to provide further updates as and when I'm able to."

If anyone has any information about this incident or saw or heard anything suspicious in the vicinity of Molesworth Road in the last 48 hours please contact police on 101, alternatively call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111 and quote reference ED/13/1446.

A 50-year-old man and a 29-year-old woman arrested on suspicion of murder remain in police custody.