FORMER Chronicle cameraman Lee Thompson was among the first photographers to show Colonel Gaddafi's dead body to the world.
Lee, 29, from Vicars Cross, had vowed never to return to Libya because he was nearly killed after entering the former dictator's compound in August.
But when the call came, Lee, who works for a national newspaper, could not resist the assignment.
Within hours he was crawling through the drain pipe in Sirte where the former Libyan ruler was discovered by forces from the rebel National Transitional Council (NTC) before he was shot.
The following day the reporting team tracked down Gaddafi's body being stored in a giant fridge in a meat market at Misrata along with that of one of his sons and a former defence minister.
“I'm no forensic expert but it looked like he had been shot in the side of his head and his nose had been broken,” said Lee, who said the smell was unbearable.
Lee, who now lives in London, said most Libyans they spoke to believed Gaddafi should have faced a trial for his crimes.
He also visited the NTC's military office who had the ex-dictator's possessions including his favourite head scarf, a leather boot, his satellite phone, two rifles and black magic material.
The young man who found Gaddafi's infamous golden gun then turned up after being made aware of the media interest.
Lee, whose team also came across 66 bodies of rebels massacred by Gaddafi forces with their hands tied, fears the experience will affect him later.
The former Christleton High School pupil, speaking from Istanbul where he is now covering the earthquake, added: “I think it might hit me a few weeks down the line. It did after I covered the tsunami.”
