Bradford river remains are not human

REMAINS found in the river where the body of Suzanne Blamires was discovered do not belong to two other murdered prostitutes, police said yesterday.

Forensic tests on the matter found in the River Aire at Shipley, West Yorkshire, revealed they were animal and not human.

Meanwhile, tests continued on tools discovered in a suitcase pulled out of the river over the weekend.

A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said: “Further forensic examinations on remains recovered this weekend show they are not human but animal waste which appears to be from food preparation.”

Stephen Griffiths, 40, who referred to himself in court as the “crossbow cannibal”, has been charged with murdering Blamires.

He is also accused of killing Shelley Armitage and Susan Rushworth, whose bodies have never been found.

The remains were recovered on Friday from the river, a short distance from where the body parts of Blamires had been dumped.

The suitcase containing tools was found on Saturday and was still to undergo forensic tests, police said.

Officers from West Yorkshire Police’s Underwater Search Unit were yesterday continuing to search the water and the spokesman said all planned training exercises and activities had been cancelled for the coming week.

Police were also continuing to search areas of Bradford city centre, including examining excavations carried out by utility companies working within the city.

The searches will continue into next week, police said.

On the banks of the river over the weekend, two police tents and a police van were sectioned off from the road by police tape.

From one point on Otley Road a handful of floral tributes tied to railings next to the fast-moving river could be seen.

Blamires, 36, Armitage, 31, and Rushworth, 43 all went missing in Bradford.

Blamires was last seen on Friday, May 21, while Armitage has been missing since Monday, April 26, and Rushworth disappeared on June 22 last year.

Griffiths is charged with murdering Blamires between May 20 and May 25; murdering Rushworth between June 22 2009 and May 25 this year, and murdering Armitage between April 25 and May 25 this year.

He was arrested last Monday at his home on the edge of Bradford’s red-light district.

Psychology graduate Griffiths, who did postgraduate research in criminology at Bradford University, lived in the flats for about 13 years.

When he was asked to give his name at Bradford Magistrates’ Court on Friday, Griffiths replied: “The crossbow cannibal.”

Asked for his address, the suspect, who was wearing a black shirt and navy blue jeans, replied: “Erm ... here I guess.”

Griffiths will appear before Bradford Crown Court again on June 7 via video link from Wakefield Prison.