Jurors in Joanna Yeates case warned not to allow sympathy to cloud judgment

Jurors trying Vincent Tabak for the murder of Bristol landscape architect Joanna Yeates have been warned not to "allow emotion or sympathy" to cloud their judgment.

Judge Justice Field told the jury of six men and six women they should decide whether the 33-year-old Dutch engineer was guilty of Miss Yeates's murder on the evidence alone.

"It is your responsibility and your responsibility alone to judge the evidence and decide all the relevant facts and that is a heavy responsibility," the judge told the panel at Bristol Crown Court.

"The defendant is charged with murder - the most serious charge in the calendar of the criminal law.

"Please do not allow emotion to enter into your deliberation.

"This is a tragic case. A lovely young woman, with a promising future ahead of her, has been robbed of her life.

"Her death will have, and doubtless continues to have, a devastating effect on her family and Greg.

"You must not allow emotion or sympathy for Joanna and her family and for Greg to cloud your judgment."

Miss Yeates's strangled body was found by dog walkers on Christmas Day last year in Longwood Lane, Failand, North Somerset.

Tabak denies murdering the 25-year-old but has admitted her manslaughter.

The jurors have retired today to consider their verdict.