Dutch engineer panicked after 25-year-old screamed when he tried to kiss her following invitation into her flat, barrister tells jury
Vincent Tabak, 33, who is on trial for killing his neighbour, Joanna Yeates, before Christmas last year, met her by 'pure chance' that night, his defence lawyer told the Bristol jury. Photograph: Rex Features
Vincent Tabak claims that he killed his next door neighbour Joanna Yeates after misreading her friendliness and trying to kiss her.
Tabak says the landscape architect let out a piercing scream causing him to panic and put one hand around her throat and the other over her mouth. Within seconds she lay lifeless.
More than 10 months after Tabak killed 25-year-old Yeates at her flat in Bristol, his account of what happened has finally been given in open court.
Three times during his opening speech Tabak's barrister, William Clegg QC, emphasised that it was pure chance that his client had ended up in the flat.
He had been on his way out when the pair had glimpsed each other through her kitchen window and she beckoned him for a friendly drink, Clegg said.
Twice Clegg said the jury would hear no excuses from him about Tabak's "disgusting" behaviour after he killed Yeates. The decision to hide the body – which remained concealed for eight days – had caused untold anguish and agony for her family. Tabak, he said, had shown himself to be very calculating.
Clegg's 40-minute speech – a precursor to Tabak's appearance in the witness box on Thursday – offered solutions to some of the puzzles of the case.
He said Tabak, 33, had dumped the pizza that Yeates had picked up on her way home in a large street bin. He had thrown Yeates's missing sock – which one tabloid had suggested had been kept by the killer as a trophy – in the same bin.
Clegg confirmed the body had been in the boot of Tabak's car when he went shopping to Asda and said he had transported it in a bag designed to keep his bicycle dry in bad weather.
Tabak's barrister began by telling the jury that the two, who were strangers, met by chance on Friday 17 December.
If Yeates had stayed in the pub for one more drink before walking home she would still be alive, he said, and similarly if Tabak had gone on a planned trip to the supermarket half hour earlier he would not be in the dock.
Clegg told the jury that both Yeates and Tabak, who admits manslaughter but denies murder, were "home alone and bored".
Yeates's boyfriend, Greg Reardon, had gone away for the weekend while Tabak's girlfriend, Tanja Morson, was at an office Christmas party.
The barrister said that after Yeates arrived back at her flat at about 8.30pm she put the oven on. She opened one of two bottles of cider she had just bought and may have drunk from it.
Tabak decided to pop out to an Asda supermarket. They saw each other through Yeates's kitchen window as he left his flat. The blind was broken and so could not be brought down. She beckoned him and invited him into her flat, the barrister said.
He took off his coat and she offered him a drink, which he declined. Clegg said they did not know each other and introduced themselves. Yeates said her boyfriend was away and he told her his girlfriend was out. "As the two talked inside the flat, Vincent Tabak completely misread the situation," said Clegg. "Joanna was being sociable as many neighbours would be, particularly at Christmas. He misread her friendliness towards him and made a move towards her as if he was about to kiss her on the lips." He put his hand on her back "to draw her close to him".
Clegg told the jury at Bristol crown court that Yeates let out a loud piercing scream. Tabak "put a hand over her mouth and said to her: 'Stop screaming'. He apologised, said he was sorry. He took his hand away and she carried on screaming.
"He panicked. He put one hand around her throat and the other over her mouth. In seconds, far less than a minute, Joanna went limp. She was dead."
Yeates's parents, David and Teresa and her boyfriend watched from the public gallery as Clegg told the jury: "He never intended to kill her. Nothing had been planned, nothing was premeditated."
The barrister said it was possible it had only taken 10 seconds for Tabak to kill Yeates. Tabak believes he had been in the flat for around 10 minutes before he moved towards her.
Clegg said his conduct after Yeates died when he hid the body was "frankly disgusting" and had caused untold anguish and agony to her family. He said Tabak had done everything he could to cover his tracks. He had told "lie after lie" to the police.
Clegg said Tabak's behaviour showed he was a very calculating person trying to wriggle out of his responsibility.
He said that after killing Yeates, Tabak returned to his flat, leaving Yeates' door on the latch.
He made the decision to move the body. He turned the oven off in Yeates' flat and put her body into a bicycle cover and placed it in the boot of his car.
Clegg said Tabak then went to Asda as he had planned. The barrister accepted this was not a rational thing to do. Afterwards he drove around in an aimless manner before reaching Longwood Lane, three miles from Yeates' home.
He tried to lift the body over a wall but was unable to, and left it covered in leaves at the side of the road. Clegg said he took the cycle cover, the pizza that Yeates had bought as she walked home and one sock that became separated from her body and dumped them in a large bin back in Bristol.
Then he carried on with his life, attending dinner parties, going to work, living with his girlfriend. "He should have phoned the police and told them the truth," said Clegg. "He never did."
Clegg concluded his opening speech by telling the jury Tabak is not being tried for what he did after he killed Yeates but "the very act that caused her death".
"What he is being tried for is whether when he killed Joanna Yeates that was planned, premeditated and something he intended to do," Clegg said. "That is the issue you have to focus on. We invite you to focus on that dreadful moment that Friday night in Joanna's flat."
Tabak is due to give evidence on Thursday.
Tabak says the landscape architect let out a piercing scream causing him to panic and put one hand around her throat and the other over her mouth. Within seconds she lay lifeless.
More than 10 months after Tabak killed 25-year-old Yeates at her flat in Bristol, his account of what happened has finally been given in open court.
Three times during his opening speech Tabak's barrister, William Clegg QC, emphasised that it was pure chance that his client had ended up in the flat.
He had been on his way out when the pair had glimpsed each other through her kitchen window and she beckoned him for a friendly drink, Clegg said.
Twice Clegg said the jury would hear no excuses from him about Tabak's "disgusting" behaviour after he killed Yeates. The decision to hide the body – which remained concealed for eight days – had caused untold anguish and agony for her family. Tabak, he said, had shown himself to be very calculating.
Clegg's 40-minute speech – a precursor to Tabak's appearance in the witness box on Thursday – offered solutions to some of the puzzles of the case.
He said Tabak, 33, had dumped the pizza that Yeates had picked up on her way home in a large street bin. He had thrown Yeates's missing sock – which one tabloid had suggested had been kept by the killer as a trophy – in the same bin.
Clegg confirmed the body had been in the boot of Tabak's car when he went shopping to Asda and said he had transported it in a bag designed to keep his bicycle dry in bad weather.
Tabak's barrister began by telling the jury that the two, who were strangers, met by chance on Friday 17 December.
If Yeates had stayed in the pub for one more drink before walking home she would still be alive, he said, and similarly if Tabak had gone on a planned trip to the supermarket half hour earlier he would not be in the dock.
Clegg told the jury that both Yeates and Tabak, who admits manslaughter but denies murder, were "home alone and bored".
Yeates's boyfriend, Greg Reardon, had gone away for the weekend while Tabak's girlfriend, Tanja Morson, was at an office Christmas party.
The barrister said that after Yeates arrived back at her flat at about 8.30pm she put the oven on. She opened one of two bottles of cider she had just bought and may have drunk from it.
Tabak decided to pop out to an Asda supermarket. They saw each other through Yeates's kitchen window as he left his flat. The blind was broken and so could not be brought down. She beckoned him and invited him into her flat, the barrister said.
He took off his coat and she offered him a drink, which he declined. Clegg said they did not know each other and introduced themselves. Yeates said her boyfriend was away and he told her his girlfriend was out. "As the two talked inside the flat, Vincent Tabak completely misread the situation," said Clegg. "Joanna was being sociable as many neighbours would be, particularly at Christmas. He misread her friendliness towards him and made a move towards her as if he was about to kiss her on the lips." He put his hand on her back "to draw her close to him".
Clegg told the jury at Bristol crown court that Yeates let out a loud piercing scream. Tabak "put a hand over her mouth and said to her: 'Stop screaming'. He apologised, said he was sorry. He took his hand away and she carried on screaming.
"He panicked. He put one hand around her throat and the other over her mouth. In seconds, far less than a minute, Joanna went limp. She was dead."
Yeates's parents, David and Teresa and her boyfriend watched from the public gallery as Clegg told the jury: "He never intended to kill her. Nothing had been planned, nothing was premeditated."
The barrister said it was possible it had only taken 10 seconds for Tabak to kill Yeates. Tabak believes he had been in the flat for around 10 minutes before he moved towards her.
Clegg said Tabak was guilty of a dreadful crime for which he must pay the price, but he added: "It wasn't something he had planned or intended … he reacted to her scream. He panicked and in a few seconds he discovered to his horror that she had died."
Clegg said Tabak's behaviour showed he was a very calculating person trying to wriggle out of his responsibility.
He said that after killing Yeates, Tabak returned to his flat, leaving Yeates' door on the latch.
He made the decision to move the body. He turned the oven off in Yeates' flat and put her body into a bicycle cover and placed it in the boot of his car.
Clegg said Tabak then went to Asda as he had planned. The barrister accepted this was not a rational thing to do. Afterwards he drove around in an aimless manner before reaching Longwood Lane, three miles from Yeates' home.
He tried to lift the body over a wall but was unable to, and left it covered in leaves at the side of the road. Clegg said he took the cycle cover, the pizza that Yeates had bought as she walked home and one sock that became separated from her body and dumped them in a large bin back in Bristol.
Then he carried on with his life, attending dinner parties, going to work, living with his girlfriend. "He should have phoned the police and told them the truth," said Clegg. "He never did."
Clegg concluded his opening speech by telling the jury Tabak is not being tried for what he did after he killed Yeates but "the very act that caused her death".
"What he is being tried for is whether when he killed Joanna Yeates that was planned, premeditated and something he intended to do," Clegg said. "That is the issue you have to focus on. We invite you to focus on that dreadful moment that Friday night in Joanna's flat."
Tabak is due to give evidence on Thursday.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/oct/19/vincent-tabak-joanna-yeates-court?CMP=twt_gu
