THE Press can reveal new details of the moment when the body of Cai Guan Chen was found in the Selby Canal.

Statements made by Daryl Ashwell and Craig Murphy, the two anglers who found the body, have been released by the Crown Prosecution Service as part of new open justice protocols.

Describing the moment the dead man was found, Mr Murphy said: “Daryl shouted to me to say he had snagged some debris in the canal. Daryl called me over to the item and said ‘Do you think it’s a body?’ I looked down at what he had caught and realised that yes, it was a human body.

“The body was face down and I could see the back and top of the legs to just below the knees. The head was covered with a bag so I could not see it and a rope that was blue was tied around the neck area. There was also some of this rope around the waist area that was loose and not tight to the body.”

Mr Ashwell said: “As the object was at the side of the jetty the water cleared slightly and I saw what I recognised to be a person’s lower back and buttocks.

“By the time Craig reached me, the water had cleared some more. I could now see an arm – this would be the left arm – and two legs. The skin was very pale. What I now realised was a human body was face down.”