Two confess to killing Briton in Ukraine

Two men have confessed to the murder of a British engineer in Kiev, say police in Ukraine.

The badly decomposed body of Kieran Downes, 42, was found in a flat in the Ukrainian capital with his hands tied behind his back.

A private detective hired by his family spent nearly six weeks trying to trace him before making the macabre discovery. The two men are believed to be connected to the father of three through his business activities in the former Soviet republic.

Today a police spokesman said they had confessed to the murder. "We cannot say more at present," he said.

Mr Downes, from Ealing, moved to Kiev about a year ago to develop property. His parents, George and Mary Downes, from Salisbury, grew concerned when he stopped phoning them several weeks before Christmas.