Fears of serial killer as bodies pile up
Expert's stark warning after 17 bodies found in Manchester's murky canals in just two years
With 17 bodies discovered in the past two years, the canals running through Manchester in northern England are racking up a grim tally, prompting one expert to warn of a possible serial killer at large.
Police have rejected the theory advanced by Professor Craig Jackson, head of psychology at Birmingham City University, but it has played on local concerns and officials are looking into the safety of canals.
Nine bodies were pulled out of the waterways in and around Manchester last year and eight in 2013, almost all men, according to an analysis of reports in the Manchester Evening News - a high number for a single region.
"I'm certainly keeping an open mind as to what's been happening. I can't disprove a serial killer," Jackson said.
The vast majority of the deaths have been ruled to be either due to accident or suicide, Jackson added.
"I study suicide and I can categorically say that people very rarely choose canals as their method ... so I don't buy these are suicides," he said.