BRITISH police searching for two missing victims of the 'crossbow cannibal' believe they have discovered more human body parts. An underwater search team made the discovery at the River Aire in Shipley, West Yorkshire.

A West Yorkshire police spokesman said yesterday: "At around midday officers from West Yorkshire Police's under-water search unit recovered from the River Aire what are believed to be human remains.

"The remains were found about 200 yards from where the remains of Suzanne Blamires were found on Tuesday.

"The remains will now be forensically examined to identify them and at this stage it is too early to speculate on who the remains belong to."

Criminology student Stephen Griffiths (40), dubbed himself the 'crossbow cannibal' when he appeared in court on Friday charged with three counts of murder. He is accused of killing Blamires, Shelley Armitage and Susan Rushworth, who all went missing in Bradford.

Although the remains of Blamires (36) were discovered on Tuesday, police are still trying to trace the other two sex workers.

All eyes were focused on the black-shirted unshaven figure of Griffiths as he stood in the dock before a Bradford district judge on Friday. When asked to confirm his name, he replied: "The crossbow cannibal". When asked by the clerk for his address, he answered: "Here, I guess".

The bizarre answers to the formal questions required of defendants passing through the English magistrate system brought a gasp of disbelief from at least one member of the public gallery. Family members of the mature student's alleged victims had crowded into court to see for themselves the man accused of murdering the three local sex workers. As proceedings got underway, several wiped away tears while others craned their heads to watch him, their expressions blank.

After being remanded in custody in a second brief hearing at Bradford Crown Court held before a judge later in the day, Griffiths, a former public schoolboy who has a degree in psychology and was studying for a PhD in criminology, was driven away to Wakefield Prison, home to some of the country's most notorious criminals.

Angry crowds shouted "dirty rat" as the vehicle sped from the precinct.

Griffiths was arrested on Monday after police were called to his flat by a caretaker who had seen CCTV images of a woman allegedly being attacked with a crossbow. He was charged with three murders on Thursday.

There was no application for bail at the second hearing in which Griffiths appeared, flanked by three officers behind security glass, once again under the gaze of the victims' families.

As legal discussions were held he sat with his hands clasped together and his head bowed. The 40-year-old was ordered to stand by Judge James Goss QC and to confirm he was Stephen Shaun Griffiths. This time he replied simply: "I am". He nodded in understanding when he was told that he would not be required to appear at the next hearing scheduled for 7 June but instead would be connected to proceedings via video link from prison.

Around Griffiths' flat, where he had lived for 13 years on the edge of Bradford's red light district, a dozen floral tributes had built up in memory of the women. One message read: "For our special daughter Shelley. Good night. God bless. Mum and Dad."

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