Tabak accused of strangling Jo for sexual thrills

Vincent Tabak, who denies murder but admits manslaughter, denied claims he had been aroused as he was asked to imagine his victim’s last moments.

Miss Yeates’s relatives watched in a hushed courtroom as he closed his eyes for 20 seconds – the time he claims it took to throttle her.

She may have been home for only a few minutes before Tabak was at her door with her cat, Bernard, the prosecution put to him.

On his second day in the witness box, Tabak, 33, said he was attracted to Miss Yeates, but claimed sex was not on his mind.

He told Bristol Crown Court Miss Yeates had been cheery and happy while flirting with him before the attack.

Prosecution QC Nigel Lickley then asked him: “What’s the difficulty in accepting it is sexual?

“Is it because there are other sexual elements to what happened?”

Tabak replied: “There were no other sexual elements.”

Mr Lickley asked: “Is the holding of her throat sexual in your mind? Did you derive sexual gratification from holding her throat?”

Tabak replied: “Definitely not.”

Mr Lickley asked: “Were you sexually aroused when you were holding her throat with your hand over her mouth?”

The defendant replied: “Definitely not.”

Mr Lickley asked: “Were you sexually aroused when you went to kiss her on the mouth?”

Tabak replied: “No... I felt attracted to her, yes.”

Mr Lickley went on to ask Tabak whether he thought she was attracted to him “because she made a comment about her cat getting into the wrong place”.

Tabak said: “She was cheery, happy ... She made the comment (about the cat).”

Mr Lickley accused Tabak of telling lies, saying: “She showed no interest in you, Vincent Tabak.”

Tabak said: “We were standing close to each other. She invited me in for a drink. She made a flirty comment. I thought she was flirtatious.”

Tabak showed no emotion as he was shown a harrowing image of Miss Yeates’s body in a foetal position at Flax Bourton mortuary, in Somerset.

He said he could not remember how his arms were scarred, and denied claims there had been a struggle with Miss Yeates as he strangled her.

Tabak admitted he had misled police as a search was launched for her body and apologised for raising suspicions about landlord Christopher Jefferies. “I am sorry I dragged him into this,” he told the jury.

He said he was “in a state of panic, turmoil” after dumping her body on a snowy verge in Failand, Somerset, on December 17.

“I was exhausted that evening after moving Joanna’s body,” he said.

But – speaking in short sentences in a Dutch accent – he said he lied to police about having a nap after killing her.

Tabak admitted he knew what he was doing in trying to cover his tracks. “I misled the police, yes,” he said. “And it is dishonest.”

Girlfriend Tanja Morson had no idea that her partner had become a killer, the court heard.

Tabak said Ms Morson did not get suspicious about him “sweating” and struggling to sleep.

Mr Lickley then asked the defendant for whom he was sorry.

“For Joanna’s parents, for Greg,” Tabak said.

Mr Lickley replied: “What about yourself?”

Tabak said: “No.”

Referring to Ms Morson, Tabak added: “I feel sorry for what I did to her yes, and for my parents.”

Mr Lickley told Tabak he would have known as a child that holding Miss Yeates’s throat would stop her breathing.

Tabak added: “It was not my intention to harm her. I just wanted to calm her down and stop her from screaming.”

After Tabak left the stand, forensic pathologist Dr Nat Cary said there was no evidence to suggest she had been sexually assaulted.

The trial continues.