A MURDER investigation was under way last night after a Merseyside father was found dead in a suburban front garden.

Merseyside Police launched the inquiry after finding a 42-year-old man with head injuries outside a house in Rainhill.

He was later declared dead at the scene.

The victim was yesterday named locally as father-of-three and electrician Kevin Monteith, of Holt Lane, Rainhill.

Detectives spent Sunday questioning a 21-year-old local man who was arrested in connection with the inquiry.

Mr Monteith’s wife Anne, also in her 40s, was said to have been on her way back from a Hen weekend in Ireland when the killer struck. She is thought to be a staff nurse at the nearby Whiston Hospital.

The couple have three children, Danielle, Robert and David. Mr Monteith was well-known as a local electrician and worked in partnership with elder son Robert.

Drinkers at the Holt Hotel, on the corner of Warrington Road and Holt Lane, say Mr Monteith left the pub, where he was a regular customer, shortly after 7pm on Saturday evening.

Police were called to the quiet residential street at 10.30pm that night after his body was spotted on a front driveway.

Yesterday, police interviewed the landlord and bar staff at the pub and were reviewing its CCTV footage from Saturday night.

Neighbours said the family moved to their home on Holt Lane in the early 1980s.

Denis and Linda Bibby, of nearby Longview Avenue, Rainhill, recalled seeing police officers seal off the road at around 11pm on Saturday night.

Mrs Bibby told the Daily Post: “There were men in white suits all over the place, and policemen were searching through gardens with torches.

“They were a nice family, never had a problem out of them. It’s come totally out the blue. I don’t know how she’ll cope without him. They’re a decent family, both working.”

A Home Office post mortem was due to be carried out yesterday to establish the cause of death.

Police kept Holt Lane sealed off throughout Sunday while they conducted house-to-house inquiries and forensic examinations.

A spokeswoman said: “Merseyside Police are keen to speak with anyone who was in Holt Lane last night between the hours of 8.30pm and 11pm, or anyone who has any other information about this incident.”

Contact police on 0151 777 6585, or call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

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