A PARISHIONER and two workmen told a jury of their shock at discovering the body of Thornbury vicar the Rev John Suddards.

They found him lying on his back in the hallway of his vicarage on February 14 this year.

Bristol Crown Court heard yesterday that Tim Giles, secretary of St Mary's parochial church council, had gone to the vicarage with a spare key to let plumber Richard Gough and builder Karl Hardman into the property.

The two workmen had failed to get an answer from the vicarage on the morning.

Mr Giles said he went to Mr Suddards's home and found that all the curtains of the downstairs windows had been drawn.

He unlocked the front door with a spare key and could see in the dimly lit hallway the body of Mr Suddards.

"I could see that his arms were folded upwards towards his body,’’ Mr Giles said in a statement read to the jury.

"I felt he was dead. He was very cold. I said 'I think he's dead' and one of the workmen said, I think, 'Are you sure?'

"I could see blood on the floor. I think I also saw a knife, nine to 10 inches overall, with a six inch blade and handle."

Mr Giles said he went immediately outside and told the two workmen to ring the emergency services.

He added: "I felt very shocked by now. I think the two men went inside the vicarage but only a few steps."

Karl Hardman, a builder, described how he waited outside while Mr Giles went inside the property.

"I heard Tim say 'Something's wrong. He's dead, he's cold'."

Mr Hardman said he then went inside the vicarage and saw what he described as a cloth or piece of paper covering the lower half of Mr Suddards's body, and a bible on his chest.

His colleague Richard Gough, a plumber, added: "I saw Tim come stumbling out saying 'He's dead'."

He said he and Mr Hardman went inside and then came out again.

"I was really shocked by what I saw and immediately went back outside and the emergency services started to arrive, so I just stepped back and got out of the way."

Stephen Farrow, 48, admits the manslaughter of the vicar on the grounds of diminished responsibility but denies his murder.

Farrow, a drifter, of no fixed address, also denies the murder of retired teacher Betty Yates, 77, who was found stabbed at her cottage in Bewdley, Worcestershire in January.

Farrow had been in court to hear the statements read to the jury but following a short break he had refused to return to court to see forensic scientist Claire Morse give her evidence.

Miss Morse had attended the vicarage after Mr Suddards's body had been found. During Miss Morse's evidence the jury of eight men and four women were shown various items recovered from Mr Suddards's home, including a bible, canvas print of Jesus Christ, a mirror, a calendar of a male model and a statue of Madonna and child.

She told the jury that a fully clothed Mr Suddards was lying on his back on a rug in a hallway with his arms upright on his chest.

The black leather-bound bible was found on the vicar's chest and his lower body - from waist to ankles - was covered by an A3-sized calendar of a partially-clothed young man.

Propped up in the hallway against the walls were the 3ft square framed print of Christ and the 4ft by 3ft wooden framed rectangular mirror.

Miss Morse said that if you crouched down next to Mr Suddards's body you could see a reflection of Jesus Christ in the mirror.

There was also party popper string on the vicar's body, a piece of apple was recovered from between the clergyman's legs and an unopened condom was found nearby.

The knife was found by Mr Suddards's left elbow and two pairs of g-string underwear by his left hip.

Miss Morse said various pieces of food had been scattered around the hallway, including bread and a broken plate and upturned bowl, and splashes of green soup on the walls and on Mr Suddards's body.

The blood splattering in the hallway indicated that Mr Suddards had been hit while he was likely to have been kneeling down.

In the kitchen food had been left on the table, including a carton of soup.

The two kitchen windows had been covered by a green blanket and Mr Suddards's black cloak.

Both the kitchen and the vicar's study had been ransacked and in his bedroom a small bloodstained statue depicting Madonna and child was found.

Miss Morse said that the blood stains indicated that the statue was placed in the bedroom after Mr Suddards had been attacked.

Farrow was arrested in Folkestone, Kent in February after Avon and Somerset Police launched a nationwide manhunt after Mr Suddards's body was discovered.

Farrow has a severe personality disorder, which the prosecution accepts.

The trial continues.