Dutchman called 'beanpole' with a love of sailing
Carefree: Vincent Tabak on a relaxing sailing trip
But yesterday this lanky and talented Dutchman was at the centre of the Joanna Yeates mystery after he was arrested on suspicion of her murder.
To his former neighbours in Bath, Somerset, 32-year-old Mr Tabak – who is 6ft 4in tall – was known as a ‘mild-mannered beanpole’.
Indeed, on the street where the sailing enthusiast lived until 18 months ago, news of yesterday morning’s arrest was met with astonishment.
One resident said: ‘I cannot believe he has been caught up in this murder inquiry.
‘He was a very nice and considerate young man. We were sad when he left. He was very personable and polite.’
Mr Tabak moved into the one-bedroom flat three-and-a-half years ago when he started work at Bath-based engineering consultancy, Buro Happold.
The neighbour, who didn’t wish to be named, said the ‘quiet and helpful’ man would often invite friends and family from Holland to his rented home in fashionable Walcot Parade.
In 2009, Mr Tabak moved into Flat 2 at 44 Canynge Road with his girlfriend, lawyer’s daughter Tanja Morson, 34.
Jo Yeates lived at No 4 with her boyfriend, Greg Reardon.
‘She (Miss Morson) was an occasional visitor and he told me that he wanted a bigger place they could share in Bristol,’ said the former Bath neighbour.
The couple’s sailing holiday took place several years ago and Mr Tabak uploaded his photos onto the internet to share with friends.
He was born in February 1978 in Veghel, a town with a population approaching 40,000 north of Eindhoven, to parents Sonja and Gerald and he has several sisters and a brother.
Fluent in Dutch, English and German, after school in 1996 he began studying at Eindhoven University of Technology, where he gained a degree in architecture, building and planning.
Between 1999 and 2003 Mr Tabak worked as a research assistant and part-time teaching assistant at the university before embarking on a PhD on ‘User Simulation of Space Utilisation’ – a research project looking at developing a system exploring links between buildings and the movement of humans within offices.
In his thesis the Dutchman had warm words of praise for his partner, saying: ‘I want to thank my girlfriend Tanja
Morson for her support in the last difficult month of my PhD. I am very happy that she entered my life.’
Mr Tabak – who on a CV lists his interests as hiking and travelling in south and north America and Asia, photography and sailing – moved to Britain in 2007 and started working at global consulting engineers Buro Happold that September as a ‘people flow consultant’.
Projects the company has been involved in include the recent re-design of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre at Stratford and the £220million restoration of London’s Savoy hotel.
Last night the company was referring all inquiries about
Mr Tabak – whose unusual Facebook photograph is his elongated shadow cast on grass – to Avon and Somerset Police.
Mr Tabak’s girlfriend, Miss Morson, works as a treasury analyst for Dyson in Malmesbury, Wiltshire.
Her father, Geoffrey, declined to discuss developments yesterday at the £1million detached home in one of the most exclusive roads in Cambridge.
The Canadian citizen, who has worked in the U.S. as a lawyer, said: ‘I don’t know anything. I don’t know the young woman who was reported to be murdered, although I am very sorry about what happened to her.
‘Tanja’s mother, Elisabeth, expressed concern at his welfare, saying: ‘We saw what happened to the landlord and don’t want to see that happen to our lovely Vincent.’
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1348968/Joanna-Yeates-murder-Police-hold-architect--32-start-new-search.html#ixzz1BeYiCPHm
