THE body of a sheriff was found yesterday in his home in Edinburgh.

Police said later that there were no suspicious circumstances

surrounding the death of Mr Clive Shenton, QC.

Officers were called to the house in Moray Place after neighbours

became concerned that they had not seen Mr Shenton, 47. It is believed

his body may have lain for some time.

A spokesman for Lothian and Borders Police last night confirmed that a

man's body had been found and added there were ''no suspicious

circumstances'' surrounding the death. A report will be sent to the

procurator-fiscal.

A native of South Africa, Mr Shenton moved into the legal profession

after a distinguished military career. Educated at Sandhurst before

graduating from Edinburgh University, he served in the Black Watch and

then the Parachute Regiment.

He left the Army after rising to the rank of major and was admitted to

the Faculty of Advocates in Edinburgh in 1975. He was also a member of

the English Bar. He was appointed a temporary sheriff in 1988.

Mr Shenton stood twice as the Conservative parliamentary candidate in

Dunfermline East in 1983 and 1987 but on both occasions lost to Labour's

Gordon Brown.

In March this year, he incurred the wrath of three Appeal Court Judges

after ordering that an innocent woman be locked up and fined #500 even

after police had admitted ''doctoring'' her statement.