Tabak 'Strangled Joanna For 20 Seconds'

Vincent Tabak claims he strangled Joanna Yeates after she screamed when he put his arm around her, a court has heard.

Elements of the Dutch engineer's defence emerged in court for the first time when an extract from his own statement was read out.

It was revealed as the pathologist who inspected Miss Yeates' body was re-examined by the prosecution.

Tabak, who admits manslaughter but denies murder, claims he initially put his hand over the architect's mouth to stop her screams, the jury was told.

The statement said: "The two were facing each other. He put one arm around her back with his hand in the small of her back and she screamed.

"He put his other hand over her mouth which caused the noise of the scream to cease.

"He removed his hand from her mouth and the screaming continued. He then put his hand around her throat.

"He believes it was the one that had been from behind her back and held it there for about 20 seconds."

The statement continued: "He applied no more than moderate force on a scale of one to three - light, moderate and severe. He did not intend death or serious injury.

"The actions described above killed Miss Yeates. The defendant accepts his actions were unlawful."

When asked about the statement, pathologist Russell Delaney said: "That period of time would be sufficient to cause the signs of venous obstruction and would be long enough to result in her death."

Earlier, Dr Delaney had told Bristol Crown Court that Tabak may only have used one hand in the killing.

The pathologist said: "My suggestion is that the injuries are consistent with being caused by one hand - a hand larger than the average hand perhaps."

He was asked under cross-examination whether Miss Yeates, 25, would have been able to scream when she was being strangled.

"That would depend on the nature of the neck compression," he told the court.

Tabak, 33, sat with his head in his hands as the pathologist continued to give evidence.

Miss Yeates suffered 43 injuries after being strangled by Tabak on December 17 in the flat she and her boyfriend Greg Reardon shared in Clifton, Bristol.

Mr Reardon was away visiting his brother and she had been out for drinks with colleagues before returning home alone.

Tabak lived in the adjoining flat and the prosecution says he killed her moments after she arrived back at the apartment block.

Mr Reardon later testified about the last time he saw his girlfriend and the night he realised she was missing.

He told the court they had lunch on the day she died before he left for the weekend to visit his brother.

He said he had returned to their flat to pick up his things and had left the light on for her.

Mr Reardon tried to call her that night on her mobile and landline but there was no answer so he texted her at around 10.20pm.

She "didn't care for mobile phones" so he just assumed she had not seen the message, he told the court.

Mr Reardon said he had continued to try and get in touch over the weekend and was worried but did not think there was a "big problem".

The court heard he then became increasingly frantic when he returned home on the Sunday to find his girlfriend was not there.

He said he thought he only needed to use the Yale to get in and had noticed Miss Yeates' boots were in the centre of the hall, which was untidy.

He also spotted an open bottle of cider on the work top but did not consider this unusual and admits he felt annoyed she had not told him her plans.

By 9pm, when they had been due to watch the Apprentice together, he was getting more worried and then heard Miss Yeates' mobile ring in her coat pocket.

He told the jury: "I really didn't know what was going on. I tried to justify it and keep calm."

"I kept saying to myself 'She's gone out for the evening and she has forgotten her coat'."

As he searched the flat, he realised her bag, wallet and keys were still there and that no new rubbish had been thrown away since Friday.

"I panicked. It was realisation that now something was wrong. At the very best, she had been locked out with her things in the flat," he said.

It was then that he started to ring around her friends and called her parents before phoning the police.

Mr Reardon told the court he did not know Tabak or his girlfriend, who were his next-door neighbours.

The court had earlier heard from Miss Yeates' schoolfriend Rebecca Scott, who spoke to her on the night she died.

Miss Scott said her friend and Mr Reardon were the "perfect couple" and had a "great" relationship. "They were in it for the long-term," she told the court.

Ms Scott said she had spoken to Miss Yeates at 8.13pm, less than an hour before she was killed.

She described her friend as "jolly" rather than drunk and said they had talked about meeting up on Christmas Eve.

Miss Yeates had suggested going over to Swansea where Miss Scott was studying but was told transport was disrupted due to the snow.

The victim's mother wept as Miss Scott gave evidence and smiled to her as she left the witness box.