Vincent Tabak denies he killed Joanna Yeates for kicks

KILLER Vincent Tabak was accused in court of strangling Joanna Yeates for sexual kicks.

But Dutchman Tabak, who has admitted the manslaughter of the 25-year-old landscape architect, denied the accusation, saying he had wanted to kiss and not kill her after he walked by her kitchen window and she invited him in.

Court One of Bristol Crown Court sat in silence yesterday as prosecutor Nigel Lickley QC counted 20 seconds – the time Tabak says he had his hand around Miss Yeates' neck.

Mr Lickley told the 33-year-old "The time starts now" as the assembled jurors, legal teams and media watched. After 20 seconds of silence Tabak, who says he grabbed the young landscape architect's throat in a bid to quieten her down after he made a pass at her, said: "I can't remember how long it was."

The burly engineer was adamant Miss Yeates invited him into her Clifton flat and, after she made a "flirty comment" during a ten-minute chat, he thought she wanted to kiss him.

He said when he made a move to kiss her on the lips, which he denied was sexual, she screamed and he held her throat for a maximum 20 seconds to try to stifle her.

Once again apologising to Miss Yeates' parents and boyfriend Greg Reardon for killing her, he told the court: "It was not an intention to harm her or kill her.

"I just wanted to calm her down and stop her from screaming.

"I definitely didn't know she would suffer serious injury or die."

Tabak, Miss Yeates' neighbour at flats in Canynge Road, admits killing Miss Yeates but denies murdering her between December 16 and 19 last year.

It is claimed that, after drinking two glasses of cider with colleagues at The Bristol Ram pub on Park Street, Miss Yeates made her way back to her flat alone and was murdered by Tabak. He admits that he then drove with her dead body in the boot of his girlfriend's Renault Megane, on a shopping trip to Asda, before leaving her in remote Longwood Lane.

Her snow and leaf-covered frozen body was found by dog walkers on Christmas Day.

Continuing an intensive cross examination, Mr Lickley asked Tabak: "How can you make a pass at someone, Vincent Tabak, which is not sexual?"

Tabak replied: "I tried to kiss her, I guess. It's not sexual. It's trying to kiss. I was trying to kiss her on her mouth."

Tabak repeatedly denied his intentions were sexual, and maintained that he thought Miss Yeates wanted him to kiss her and he wanted to kiss her. He denied that he grabbed Miss Yeates' neck for sexual gratification.

Tabak told the jury: "I was not sexually aroused holding her throat. I felt she was attracted to me. I felt she wanted to kiss me. She was cheery at me."

Tabak, who has a PhD and specialises in people movement around buildings, said he could not remember the details of the conversation he had with Miss Yeates, but that it was something about her cat getting in to his flat and "going to places he shouldn't go to, like me".

Mr Lickley referred to Tabak's internet searches after the killing, which included him looking up manslaughter and murder.

Tabak said he had "apparently" searched the subjects, but could not remember doing so.

Mr Lickley asked him why he searched online for the definition of sexual assault and sexual conduct.

Tabak replied: "I think I was a bit worried if my pass at her would be seen as sexual conduct. I was not sure what a sexual offence meant."

Tabak admitted that when police interviewed him in Holland on New Year's Eve he misled them and he conceded he had tried to implicate his landlord, Christopher Jefferies, to distance himself from the killing.

Repeatedly, Tabak said that after strangling Miss Yeates with a single hand he was exhausted, in a state of turmoil, stress and panic.

He said he could not recall how she received the catalogued 43 injuries to her head, torso and limbs and denied she screamed out in her flat that night because he pulled her top up.

Tabak was adamant that there had been no struggle, and could not recall if Miss Yeates collided with anything which may have injured her.

Once again, Tabak apologised for what he had done.

He said: "I was not intending to kill her. I'm very sorry for Joanna's parents and for Greg. I'm not feeling sorry for myself. I feel sorry for what I did to her and my family."

Again, Tabak said Miss Yeates had not resisted him.

Mr Lickley said: "That's a lie."

Tabak replied: "There was no struggle."

Mr Lickley said Tabak could not bring himself to admit that he had sexually attacked Miss Yeates, and Tabak said it was "definitely not true".

He said: "I killed her, yes, but not intentionally. There was no struggle. I didn't intend to cause her serious harm. I killed her, yes, but there was no intention."

The court was again shown photographs of Miss Yeates' dead body and injuries found. Her father David closed his eyes as some of the graphic images appeared on computer screens. Her mother Teresa was not in court.

Dr Nathaniel Carey, a Home Office forensic pathologist called by the defence, told the court he had extensive experience in the field of neck compression and had worked on well publicised cases such as the Soham murders and prostitute murders in Ipswich.

He said that a small percentage of the population became sexually aroused by asphyxiation, but said that scenario in this case was "largely speculative".

He said there was no evidence of interference to her genital area, though that did not exclude the possibility of a sexual assault.

Dr Carey said the medical evidence suggested Miss Yeates suffered a fairly short one-handed neck compression, possibly as short as ten seconds, and cause of death could have been attributable to a sudden stopping of the heart.

Dr Carey said many of the injuries found on her body were minor, and there was no evidence of a violent assault to her torso.

He told the jury a graze on her right breast could have been caused by her clothes lifting up when she was moved. He said he was unable to discern if some of the abrasions were caused before or after death.

Dr Carey said there was no evidence of Miss Yeates' clawing at her neck when she was strangled, but simply marks made by the finger nails of her attacker.

When cross examined by the prosecution, on whether Miss Yeates was injured when she was alive or dead, he said it was difficult to evaluate.

Dr Carey did not disagree with the prosecution's pathologist that there were signs of gripping marks on her arms.

He said there had been a fracture of cartilage in her neck that would have required "at least moderate" force and a tiny nasal fracture could be attributable to her head being pushed into soft furnishings.

Dr Carey said it was difficult to say how long strangulation occurred. He told the jury it would have been at least 20 seconds, but he did not exclude ten seconds and said the period of time was related to the level of pressure.

The case continues.