A man arrested on suspicion of murdering his next-door neighbour has said the experience has ruined his life - but he is determined to clear his name.

Graham Fitzgerald, 46, was taken into custody on Sunday, July 12, after finding 59-year-old Stephen Berry dead in his flat in Kinross Close, Princes Park, Chatham, and alerting the police.

After three days, Mr Fitzgerald was released but remains on bail until September 9.

A 28-year-old man unknown to Mr Fitzgerald was also arrested on suspicion of murder on Sunday and bailed to the same date.

Mr Fitzgerald said the ordeal has left him exhausted, destitute and unable to return to his home.

He said: “This has ruined my life. I’ve had to spend the last of my benefit money on clean clothes because I couldn’t even pick up underwear or socks, and a meal.

“The police still have my wallet, so I have no bank cards. I’ve had to order another bank card, but it is being sent to my home address, and they won’t tell me when I can go back because of forensic investigations.

“I eventually got my phone back from them. I don’t know what they’ve done to it but it’s not working properly now. It’s costing me everything.

“I’ve never been in prison before. I hardly got any sleep and they relentlessly questioned me. They kept asking me the same things over and over again. I even had to collect my benefits with two police officers with me, it was so embarrassing.”

"I've made a decent name for myself round here, I haven't had any trouble with anyone... But now people are shouting ‘murderer’ and throwing rocks at me on the street..." - Graham Fitzgerald

The former labourer was forced to give up work a few years ago after an accident meant he had to have a hip replacement and a reconstructed pelvis.

He said: “I’ve made a decent name for myself round here, I haven’t had any trouble with anyone. I look after myself and my dog, I pay my bills and that’s it. But now people are shouting ‘murderer’ and throwing rocks at me on the street.

“One woman assaulted me, hit me round the head and threatened to stab me and my dog. I will be pressing charges.

“People think they’re judge, jury and executioner.”

Mr Fitzgerald has been staying with a friend and his elderly mother, but after the abuse he is concerned for their safety and is now in the process of moving somewhere else.

“I just want to go home, but at the same time, I know I can’t stay there after how everybody has been gossiping. People might say ‘oh we never thought it was you, Graham’, but I know in the backs of their minds they wondered if I was capable of it. I don’t want to be around that.”

A police spokeswoman said: “This is an ongoing investigation so I do not have any further information at this stage.”

Mr Fitzgerald spoke of the horror of finding his neighbour dead in his flat.

He said: “I went to have a look and couldn’t hear the radio. He always had Radio 4 on when he was in the house. I went in I saw him dead on the floor.

“I ran straight back to my flat and called the police and the ambulance. I gave a statement at the house and then went to the police station to help with inquiries.

"I willingly gave them my fingerprints and DNA samples. They even scraped under my nails. I thought I’d be leaving and then at 2am they said they were arresting me.”

He said he had helped his neighbour who found it difficult to look after himself. He added: “He was an old soak and he wasn’t interested in sorting himself out. I tried to look out for him, I’d make him cups of coffee and bacon sandwiches, I cut his hair.

“At one point I cleaned up his whole toxic flat. It was crawling, the kitchen was practically alive. I took about eight bin bags out just of beer cans and bottles. But in two weeks it was the same again.

“He was a lonely man, and he would talk to anybody who would give him the time of day, about anything. He was completely harmless.”

Mr Fitzgerald has been living in the flat for around seven years and Mr Berry, a father-of-two, moved in about 18 months ago.

“I’m not capable of doing a thing like this. That image of seeing Steve will stay with me forever, I was shaking while I talked to the police. I was just doing what I think is anyone’s civic duty, the right thing. The truth will come out eventually.”