A pensioner has been arrested after police identified human remains at the dilapidated former home of a pervert military expert who was jailed for stalking his neighbour.

The remains have been

A pensioner has been arrested after police identified human remains at the dilapidated former home of a pervert military expert who was jailed for stalking his neighbour.

The remains have been identified as male and are likely to be more than half-a-century old, police said.

Officers swooped on Appletree cottage in quiet Chop Gate village, positioned on the edge of the North Yorkshire Moors national park, on 31 March 2020.

A 72-year-old, who has not been identified, was interviewed and released on conditional bail as enquiries are ongoing. 

Military expert Kenneth Ward, who subjected neighbour Mandy Dunford, 59, to a nine-year campaign of harassment and intimidation used to live at the property. 

He was jailed in 2011 for a campaign of harrassment of his neighbour Mandy Dunford, now 59, and was convicted of exposing himself to her. 

The human remains have been identified as male and at least 50 years old. Officers are pictured above attending the scene at Appletree cottage, North Yorkshire

Police swooped on the cottage following reports of remains on 31 March this year

Farmer Mandy Dunford, 59 (right), had been subject to a nine-year campaign of intimidation and harassment from military historian Kenneth Ward, who was jailed for exposing himself to her in 2011

North Yorkshire police said they are working with the Ministry of Defence, the RAF Police Forensic Team and experts from the RAF and the Army to search the area and identify the remains. 

A police spokesman said work is ongoing at the empty property to remove military memorabilia found in outbuildings.

The spokesman said: 'While it is still too early to confirm the precise age of the bones, forensic archaeologists have identified them as male and they are likely to be more than half-a-century old.

'Material experts will be present throughout the search and recovery process.

'It is common practice for EOD and other experts to assist the police with advice on such operations.

'It is important to stress that the discovery of historic remains and burial sites are relatively common on North Yorkshire farmland.

'Officers are keeping an open mind until more information is known, but this is not a homicide investigation.

There was a heavy police presence at the remote cottage for four days during the investigation. Up to six officers are said to have been involved in digging up the plot.

A police officer stressed it was 'relatively common' for historic remains and burial sites to be found on the North Yorkshire moors

Human remains have been discovered at the former property of a jailed stalker who carried out a nine-year campaign of intimidation against his former neighbour

A spokesman for North Yorkshire Police said at the beginning of this month: 'Police are working with other agencies, including a forensic archaeologist, following the discovery of suspected human bones at a remote location near Chop Gate.

'Although it is too early to say precisely how old these bones are, current forensic investigations suggest that they are not recent, and are likely to be several decades old. Specialists are being used to recover and examine them.

'We'd ask people not to speculate online about the nature of the bones while this process is underway.' 

Ward subjected his former neighbour Ms Dunford to a a terrifying nine year campaign of intimidation as he would creep around her property naked by night and day.

Sometimes he would be dressed only in military boots. The court heard how he climbed ladders with his trousers down, and watched his victim through binoculars while pleasuring himself.

Miss Dunford revealed her torment in 2015 after Ward was released from prison and tried to move back to his home - but was prevented from doing so by intervention from Chancellor Rishi Sunak, Miss Dunford's local MP.

At the beginning of this month Miss Dunford, who cared for her 87-year-old mother at her farm 200 yards from Ward's cottage, said: 'The police arrived three days ago and there has been a lot of activity ever since.

A team of six officers have been carrying out searches at the property after the discovery

'They are searching the property and people in the Dale have been told that human remains have been found.

'It's very concerning and brings back a lot of anxiety for me.'

It is understood that Appletree Cottage is now in the hands of new owners although it is still in a tumbledown state and in need of major renovation.

In 2015 Miss Dunford told of her ordeal at the hands of Ward and his brother Brian, who also lived at the cottage but is believed to have died around 2002.

Their two homes stand together on a windswept fell and there was no escape for the retired police officer other than to flee the small farm where she kept her sheep and horses.

She remained there until 2015 when it looked certain that Ward would win his battle to move back to his home on release from jail.

However when Mr Sunak raised the matter in parliament the courts intervened and she and her mother were able to safely move home again.

Mr Ward tried to return to the property upon his release in 2015 only for a court intervention

Mandy told how Ward would follow her around naked, appearing at her property every day for nine years.

He and his brother would leave piles of maggot-infested animal carcasses outside her home and Kenneth Ward would stand on 'sentry duty' dressed in army fatigues outside her window for hours on end.

Miss Dunford and her pal Wendy Coulthard, 54, another retired cop, used their policing skills to trap Ward using hidden camera footage after her former colleagues failed to act despite reporting him several times.

Their footage shows Ward repeating his bizarre ritual daily as the seasons change - even standing half naked in deep snow during one of the hardest winters on record.

Eventually, faced with their evidence, the police officers who had ignored her had no option but to act and raided Ward's home.

As the eccentric military expert - who ran what he termed a museum from his home - was arrested a huge cache of bombs and live weaponry was discovered. RAF bomb squad officers were brought in to carry out controlled explosions on the moorland above their isolated homes.

Ward was arrested and jailed at Teesside Crown Court after admitting a number of offences.

Ward was set to return to the property before Chancellor Rishi Sunak, the MP for the area, stepped in and a court order prohibited Ward's return

At the time Mandy Dunford said: 'After Brian's death Kenneth's behaviour became more and more erratic. He first started exposing himself to me around 2002 and would peer in through my windows with his wild staring eyes.

'He'd run around the house at night shouting and tapping on the windows. When I was working during the day he'd come right up to me and follow me around wearing nothing but boots and socks. 

'He had a favourite stone on the lane next to my house where he used to stand to watch me with his pants down and shirt pulled up. He'd stand there for hours and hours every day, terrorising me. I became the only focus of his life.

'I went to the police to report him but their response was hopeless.'

She went four times to Stokesley police station but it only resulted in warnings for Ward, which, she claims, only made his behaviour worse.

Five North Yorkshire police officers who failed to respond effectively to her original reports were criticised in an internal disciplinary enquiry which concluded they failed to meet 'appropriate investigatory standards.'

The report said: 'It must serve as a reminder to North Yorkshire Police to periodically review how officers carry out their investigations and how North Yorkshire Police expects managers to supervise their staff.'