As campaigners call for more compassion for homeless people across Kent, we look back at the tragic case of a rough sleeper whose body lay undiscovered for nine months after his death.

The grim discovery led police down a long and winding path, and would reveal a cold-blooded murder carried out by a man who "just wanted to kill"...

It's a mild morning in late April and two rough sleepers are looking for a place to pitch up their tents.

They know the perfect spot - a secluded clearing in dense woodland behind a retail park in Wincheap.

But to the men's surprise, another tent is already there, covered in a green tarpaulin.

"Hello", they call out as they approach. When nobody answers, they cautiously unfasten the tent and peer inside.

A powerful stench of decay hits them, along with a gruesome sight: the skeletal remains of a body that has clearly lain hidden there for months.

Police soon arrive and tape off the tent.

Inside, they find spent shotgun cartridges and an assortment of belongings.

Scavengers have been at the scene, and the corpse is extremely decomposed. Dental records and DNA tests will be needed to work out the person's gender and identity.

Yet police declare the death is "unexplained, but not suspicious" and the following day, council cleaners are summoned to dismantle the encampment.

They throw away the tent, tarpaulin and personal belongings - cooking utensils; gas cylinders; other odds and ends. The police tape is taken down. Nothing of the camp remains.

This is where the story could well have ended - the death written off as the sorry demise of a transient living on the fringes of society; someone who had simply slipped away, quietly and unnoticed.

But a short while later, police received a call that changed everything. A call that suggested the death was not only suspicious, but that it had been the work of a calculating murderer.

Daisy Avery was scrolling through social media when she saw news that a body had been found in woodland.

With a mounting sense of panic she read on, and thought back to a day nine months before, when she had been in the same woodland with her ex-boyfriend, Richard Donovan.

Thinking of the man in the tent, the secluded spot, the shotgun, she picked up the phone.

After her call, police quickly returned to the scene and once again taped it off, though the camp had been cleared.

A CT scan and post-mortem were carried out on the body.

They found the victim was a man in his 60s. He had died after being shot in the pelvic area, at point-blank range - with more than 63 gunshot pellets found in his body.

A MURDER IN COLD BLOOD

It was August 4, 2015 - the height of summer - and Richard Donovan had been drinking.

As the sun beat down on Canterbury, his girlfriend Daisy was following him through woodland behind the Riverside Retail Park - a place Richard knew well.

During time the dad-of-four had spent living on the streets, he had often brought his tent here and spent nights sleeping amidst the dense undergrowth. The spot is popular among the homeless, being well-surrounded by trees and bushes, but near a riverside path that runs beside the busy shopping area.

Slung over Richard's shoulder on this day was a drawstring bag.

Inside it: a sawn-off shotgun.

Richard sat down by a tree and took out the weapon as a man walked by, greeting them as he passed.

It was Philip Fox - an ex-soldier he knew from his homeless days.

Concerned he had spotted his gun, Richard got to his feet.

But Philip reassured them it was okay, and led the couple to where his red-and-black tent stood in a nearby clearing.

Relaxing in the makeshift camp, he and Richard chatted amiably about ex-girlfriends and about life on the streets, and Richard asked Daisy to go buy him some tobacco.

But as she made her way back to the tent, tobacco in hand, she heard a loud bang.

While Philip sat unarmed in his tent, Richard had blasted him with a fatal gunshot fired at close range. Philip was still alive but bleeding profusely when Richard fled, but later died of his injuries.

Unaware of what had happened, Daisy saw Richard hurtling towards her from the woodland, dismantling the gun and stowing it in his bag.

Shocked, she initially didn't believe him when he said he had shot Philip "in the face" and he was dead.

Later, Richard threatened to kill her and her family if ever she spoke a word of what had happened that day.

THE TRIAL

Donovan was tried for murder in Maidstone in December 2016.

He denied the killing, but detailed testimony given bravely by Daisy helped convince the jury of his guilt.

She spoke of his "obsession" to own a sawn-off shotgun, which was fulfilled when he was supplied one by his cousin's husband, Tony Hindmarsh.

Another witness told how Donovan, whose drinking and drug-taking had spiralled out of control, had wanted a gun to make him feel more "manly".

Several people said they had seen him with the firearm, while Donovan protested he had never owned or used a weapon - except an air rifle he used for shooting cans and posing with.

During the trial, prosecutor Sandip Patel suggested Donovan had selected Philip Fox as his target because he thought his death would go uninvestigated.

"It may be simply that Mr Donovan wanted to use his shotgun on a living person and he knew no one would miss him - someone who lived rough alone in a secluded wood," he said.

On December 7, a full 16 months after the brutal execution, the jury deliberated for less than three hours before finding Donovan guilty of murder.

Judge Adele Williams described him as a "cold, calculating and dangerous young man".

"During your life you have tried to hide your inadequacies by violence and aggression," she told him. "I am sure on the evidence you wanted to kill Philip Fox. You shot him at close range. You didn’t want him to live to report the fact you were in possession of a sawn-off shotgun.

"But you also wanted to use the gun to kill. You left him for dead. He was bleeding to death.

"You showed him no mercy.”

Donovan was jailed for a minimum of 30 years, without parole.

"You may serve longer," added Judge Williams. "You may never be released. That will be a matter for the parole board.”

The judge praised Daisy for her bravery in coming forward, and ensuring Donovan was brought to justice.

She also thanked the police for their "exemplary investigation in very difficult circumstances indeed".

After Donovan's conviction, senior investigating officer Det Ch Insp Tony Pledger said: "Donovan is a dangerous individual who, fuelled by drink, shot an unarmed homeless man.

"There can be no reasonable explanation for his dreadful actions and the unimaginable loss he has caused."

A MISSED OPPORTUNITY?

The day before the brutal murder, police visited Donovan's mother's home in the village of Thanington.

The 26-year-old lived in Eltham in south east London, but had been staying with his mum near Canterbury, where he had grown up.

On August 3, a worried neighbour had heard shouting, followed by a bang that sounded like a gunshot.

When police arrived at the house, they found Donovan had been drinking.

He told officers he had punched a wall, and that it was this that had caused the sound heard from a neighbouring property.

In fact, the sound had been made by Donovan firing his "cherished" shotgun - which just 24 hours later he would use to kill Philip Fox - into his mum's fence and garden shed.

But police accepted his explanation and left the scene.

PC Sophie Wolfenden, one of the officers who visited the home, said later in court: "Donovan said he was out in the back garden and had punched a wall.

"I remember looking at his hand and there was no injury. He was slightly intoxicated and agitated at us being there."

After the trial, police maintained they had not missed an opportunity to seize Donovan's gun.

When asked why they had not investigated further, temporary assistant chief constable Steve Worron said: "The caller made it clear they did not want officers to attend and speak to him.

"The incident has been reviewed and the response by officers was lawful and proportionate based on the information and their assessment of the situation.

"There was no criticism of police by the court. However, after every homicide court case there is a review of the investigation by the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate to see if there are any lessons."

THE VICTIM

Philip Fox was a former soldier, and a father.

During the trial his daughter Alison Moody told of her desperate search to track him down, before finding out he had been callously murdered.

"I have been desperate to find my dad for years," she said. "When the police knocked on my door to inform me my dad had been murdered I was completely devastated.

"I had so many questions for my dad I will no longer get answers to."

Having lost contact with his family, Mr Fox instead depended on local charities for help - living "like a hermit" in a tent by the River Stour.

The 59-year-old was described as "bubbly and jokey" by those who knew him.

He had told homelessness charity Catching Lives that he had been in foster care from when he was just four, until the age of 15.

He later served in the Royal Scots regiment for six years before finding work driving buses and taxis.

In 2010, he left his flat in Whitechapel, east London, after being threatened with violence. After a period spent in hostels and bed-and-breakfasts, he arrived in Canterbury.

Terry Gore, the then manager at the Catching Lives day centre, said Mr Fox occasionally turned to the charity in times of need.

“We first had contact with him in 2014 - he’d been in the city four months by then," he said. "He had no obvious problems - no heavy drinking, no drugs.

“He would stop by from time to time for some food or to do his laundry.

“He was a pleasant, inoffensive guy. I got the impression he was something of a loner and didn’t really want to ask for help.

"We always find out if new clients have served in the Armed Forces. There’s help available - SSAFA, the British Legion. But he didn’t want to know. He said they wouldn’t be able to help him.”

Mr Fox had dreamed of being rehoused by the city council, but had been refused a place on the housing register as he had "no local connection".

As an armed forces veteran, he would have been eligible for an exemption from this rule.

Had he been alive today, Mr Fox would have been 64.