THE body of a man who died after being crushed to death in a cement mixer has been exhumed as police seek further answers into what happened more than 10 years ago.
The body of Lee Balkwell, a 33-year-old former Essex county junior golfer from Hornchurch, was taken to a hospital for a new post-mortem to be carried out and was reburied the next day at 7am on Tuesday.
The exhumation at Upminster Cemetery forms part of the on-going investigation into the death by the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate.
Mr Balkwell died when he apparently became trapped between the drum and chassis while cleaning out a cement lorry mixer in the early hours of July 18, 2002, at Baldwin's Farm in Upminster.
His father Les, who has campaigned tirelessly to win justice for his son ever since, said: "It's been more than 10 years since Lee was buried so I'm not sure how much will be left to examine.
"I'm not expecting very much out of this.
"This is very difficult for us but we are prepared to go to every length to get justice for Lee."
The decision to exhume Lee comes after five people were arrested in connection with the death.
In November officers from the Kent and Essex Police Serious Crime Directorate arrested a 43-year-old man from Upminster on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter and perverting the course of justice and perjury.
A 66-year-old man, a 63-year-old woman and another woman, aged 49 from Upminster, were also arrested for perverting the course of justice and perjury, as was another man aged 38 from Southend.
All five people were released on police bail until mid-January 2013, pending further enquiries. They have been re-bailed to a date in April.
Detective Inspector Janine Farrell, of the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate, said: "We will now await the full post-mortem report and will then be assessing the results to see how they can help inform the next steps in our investigation.
"We remain open to all hypotheses regarding Lee's death and if anyone has any information regarding the death of Lee Balkwell, no matter how trivial they consider it, even after all this time, they should contact my team on 01634 884033.
"This is a confidential line, where people can leave a message for my officers who will get back to them."
