IT WAS the curiosity of Bilbrough resident Paul Barlow that led police to make the grim discovery of the body in the suitcase.

Mr Barlow, 49, a health care assistant at St James' Hospital, Leeds, had seen the case on the morning of Saturday, November 17, 2001, as he walked down the lane to catch a bus into York. It was standing upright in a gap in the hedge.

"It just looked so weird," he said. "You could tell it was a decent suitcase and I thought it was a strange that someone had dumped it there." He continued on his way but, he said: "It kept going through my mind that it just didn't look right." It was not until he drove past it again the next morning that he decided to go back later for a "quick peek".

He returned to the scene on his bicycle and tried to lift the case but found it too heavy. "It all seemed a bit sinister," he said. "It went through my mind that it was either something valuable or something that wasn't quite right. I could see black plastic sticking out of it and I half-heartedly tried to open it but couldn't. I didn't think for a minute that there was a body inside it. There was no smell or blood. I laid it down on its side, cycled back home and called the police."

Later Mr Barlow saw the glow of blue flashing lights across the fields from his home as the police arrived at the scene.

He gave a statement about the find, and, because he had touched the case and been at the scene, his clothes were taken away for forensic examination.

"The police didn't tell me what was in the suitcase but they said I would probably be glad I didn't get it open."

It was not until the next day that he discovered from the news that a woman's body was inside. Mr Barlow, who laid a floral tribute at the spot, said: "It shocked me at the time and it was upsetting, but time goes on and it gets to the back of your mind."

Updated: 15:56 Tuesday, March 25, 2003