Vincent Tabak apologises to Joanna Yeates’s parents over her killing

Defendant denies there was sexual element to case but says he strangled 25-year-old in panic after she rebuffed his kiss More than 10 months after killing his next door neighbour, Joanna Yeates, Vincent Tabak has given his first full public account of the moment he attacked her. Tabak said he tried to kiss Yeates after she invited him into her flat and made a flirtatious remark. He insisted he had not meant to kill or seriously harm her, adding that he had only wanted to kiss her and was not planning to try to have sex with her. The 33-year-old Dutch engineer denied that he had lifted Yeates’s top or touched her breasts. He also said he had not been spying on her before the attack, which happened on 17 December last year. He apologised for hiding Yeates’s body on a country lane three miles from her flat, where it was found eight days later, on Christmas morning, and said he was sorry for putting Yeates’s parents and her boyfriend, Greg Reardon, through “hell”. Tabak was asked in court to demonstrate how he put an arm around Yeates and how he put his right hand around her neck. Her parents, David and Teresa, sat in the front row, five metres from Tabak, as he did so. They did not appear to look at him once as he gave evidence. Tabak – who admits manslaughter but denies murder – began by answering questions from his barrister, William Clegg QC. He spoke of his childhood and education in Holland, saying he grew up in a small town, went to university and became an expert in the flow of people through buildings and public areas. He said he studied until he was 29, when he came to England and got his first job at a design and engineering company in Bath. He had no girlfriends in Holland but met Tanja Morson online via Guardian Soulmates and they began living together in Clifton, Bristol. Yeates and Reardon moved in next door in October 2010, but Tabak was soon sent to California for work. He said he may only have seen his neighbours once. On the night of the killing, Morson was out at a staff party. Tabak said he had pizza and a beer then decided to go to Asda. “I felt a bit lonely,” he said. “I didn’t want to stay home alone.” As he walked down his path, Tabak said Yeates, a 25-year-old landscape architect, waved and indicated that he should come into her flat. He said he told her he was “a bit lonely and a bit bored” because his girlfriend was away. Yeates said she was also “bored at home” because Reardon was not there. The defendant said they talked about Yeates and Reardon’s cat, which used to find its way into Tabak and Morson’s flat. Tabak said Yeates had told him the cat sometimes went into places “that it shouldn’t go. A bit like me … ” He told his barrister: “I got he impression that she wanted to kiss me. She had been friendly. I leaned forward and I think I put one of my hands on her back and tried to kiss her. She started to scream quite loudly.” Tabak’s voice broke as he described how he “panicked”. He said he put his hand over her mouth, said he was sorry and asked her to stop screaming. He said he took his hand away and she began to scream again. “I put my hand over her mouth and the other hand on her neck,” he said. “I was panicking. I wanted to stop her screams. I wanted to calm her down.” “Did you intend to kill her?” Clegg asked. “No definitely not,” Tabak said. He was then asked: “Did you intend to cause her serious harm?” “No, definitely not,” he replied. Clegg asked how long Tabak had kept his hand around her neck. “For a short, short time, I think less than a minute,” he said. The barrister asked him to “relive” the moment in court, close his eyes and estimate how long he held her for. Tabak held his eyes shut for 15 seconds. Tabak said Yeates “went limp”. “She fell to the floor. I was in a state of panic, shock,” he said. “I still can’t understand what happened.” He claimed the attack took place in the kitchen. He carried Yeates’s body into the bedroom, where he placed it on the bed. He then carried it into his own flat. Tabak said he went back to Yeates’s flat, switched off the oven and television and picked up a pizza that she had bought on the way home that night and one of her socks that had fallen off. He took those items to his flat. He then put the body into a bicycle bag and put it in his car boot before driving to Asda. Asked why he had done so, he said: “I can’t believe I did that. I wasn’t thinking straight.” Tabak drove towards Bristol airport and stopped at Longwood Lane. He said: “I did something horrendous. I decided to leave her body there.” He said he tried to heave the body over a wall but could not, so he covered it with leaves. Clegg asked him about Yeates’s clothing being “rucked up”, exposing part of one breast. Tabak said it must have happened when he moved the body. He said traces of his DNA found on the outside of Yeates’s jeans and on her breast area must also be the result of him moving the body. He removed his spectacles and seemed to wipe away a tear when he apologised for dumping the body, saying: “I’m so sorry for doing that. I know I put Joanna’s parents and Greg though hell for a week. I still can’t believe I did it.” Tabak said he returned to his flat after dumping Yeates’s body. He collected the bicycle bag, pizza and sock and dumped them at a recycling centre. Later, he went and picked his girlfriend up and tried to carry on with life as normal. He said he expected the police to come for him at any moment. He began to drink and take sleeping pills. He told the court that before he was arrested on 20 January, he considered killing himself by jumping off Clifton suspension bridge. Even after his arrest, he admitted he lied to police, saying he “stupidly” hoped they would not find the evidence to convict him. Clegg concluded by again asking Tabak if he had meant to kill Yeates or cause her serious harm. “Definitely not,” he said. Nigel Lickley QC, for the prosecution, began by asking Tabak if he was “calculating, dishonest and manipulative”. Tabak accepted that he had been after killing Yeates. Lickley put it to him that if he was like that after the event, he was probably like it before, but Tabak disagreed. Lickley accused him of being “calculating, dishonest and manipulative” in the witness box. The defendant insisted he was not. The prosecutor suggested there was a “sexual element” to the case. Tabak had said he wanted to kiss Yeates. “Were you thinking of having sex with Joanna?” Lickley asked. “No,” Tabak replied. Lickley asked if Tabak was attracted to Yeates. He accepted he liked her face and may have been attracted by her hair and clothes. The prosecutor asked Tabak to demonstrate how Yeates had “waved” to him as he left for Asda. Tabak did so. He said he could not remember the gesture she had used to “beckon” him in. Tabak repeated that he believed she had flirted with him in the flat. Lickley then asked him to demonstrate how he had put his hand on Yeates’s back. Tabak did so. The prosecutor asked Tabak how and why he had put his hands on Yeates’s mouth and neck. He repeatedly asked him how Yeates had reacted. Tabak repeatedly replied: “I can’t remember.” He said he could not remember whether she was frightened, adding that she was “definitely not struggling”. Lickley asked Tabak to demonstrate how he had put his hand around Yeates’s neck. He did so using his right hand. The prosecutor then asked Tabak if he had pulled her top up. “No,” Tabak replied. Tabak was then asked whether he had touched her breasts, and whether that was what made her scream. “No, definitely not,” Tabak said. He asked Tabak twice whether he had eaten Yeates’s pizza. Tabak denied that he had. Lickley said: “All you had to do, Vincent Tabak, was walk out of the house. Correct?” Tabak said: “Yes, but I didn’t”. The trial continues. Joanna Yeates Crime Steven Morris guardian.co.uk

Posted by on October 21, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.