A third man has been arrested in connection with the death of Sebastiano Magnanini, whose body was recovered from the Regent’s Canal in September.

The man, aged 41, was arrested on suspicion of murder on Thursday and is currently in custody at a central London police station.

Detectives from the Homicide and Major Crime Command have also charged two men in connection with the investigation.

Paul Williams, 61, of no fixed abode, was charged on Thursday, October 8 with preventing lawful burial and is currently remanded in custody. He is due to appear at Blackfriars Crown Court on Tuesday, October 20.

Daniel Hastie, 22, of no fixed abode, was charged on Friday October 9 with fraud by false representation. He is currently bailed to appear at Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court on Friday, October 23.

The body of Mr Magnanini was discovered tied to a shopping trolley close to the entrance of Islington Tunnel by a member of the public at 9:07am on Thursday, September 24.

Mr Magnanini was originally from Venice and had been living and working in south London.

According to Italian newspaper La Repubblica he was jailed for 18 months in 1998 over the 1993 theft of a painting, The Education of the Virgin, by 18th-century artist Giovanni Tiepolo from a church in Venice. The painting was reportedly worth two billion lire.

He was last seen alive on Tuesday, 22 September as he travelled into central London on public transport. It is thought he visited the Euston area at around 16.50 before travelling to Kings Cross and Caledonian Road around 18.50.

Sebastiano Magnanini was described as being 6ft 1in tall with short brown hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing black jeans, a blue hooded top with a zip down the front and a dark-coloured t-shirt. He was wearing the same outfit when he was discovered in the canal.

A post-mortem examination took place at the Whittington Hospital on Friday, September 25, and the cause of death is unknown.