Vincent Tabak said he strangled Joanna Yeates for 20 seconds after she screamed when he put his arm around her, a court has been told.
Extracts from Tabak's defence statement were read out to a jury for the first time at Bristol Crown Court.
Tabak claimed he initially put his hand over her mouth to stop the screams, Nigel Lickley QC said.

that sounds like murder to me.

Tabak, 33, claims he put his hand around her neck and held it there for 20 seconds using no more than “moderate” force.
In his statement produced on 22 September 2011, Tabak said he had not intended to kill Miss Yeates or cause her serious harm.
In the statement, which was read out by the prosecuting QC Nigel Lickley, the jury at Bristol Crown Court heard: “The mechanism of death as best the defendant can recall is as follows: The two were facing each other. He put one arm around her back with his hand in the middle of her back, she screamed.
“He put the other hand on her mouth which caused the screaming 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 behind her back – and held it there for about 20 seconds. He applied no more than moderate force.

Very little doubt she was in season but hardly helps nVT's case in the slighest,she might have asked him in and bottled it but muyder is muyder.

Tipsybirds texting different blokes with "where are u etc" naturally leads to the conclusion she was after some pepperoni to go with the pizza imo.btw was the pizza ever explained?

The court had 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.

will the defence offer any evidence ?

they hardly knew each other, didn't they ? jo and her boyfriend had only recently moved in.

Tabak was invited into Miss Yeates's flat when she saw him walking past her kitchen window.
It was here, Mr Clegg said, where the pair introduced themselves to one another "and chatted as neighbours would".
"Vincent Tabak misread the situation that he had walked into. Joanna was only being sociable as many neighbours would," Mr Clegg told the jury.
"But he misread her friendliness towards him and made a move towards her as if he was about to kiss her on the lips."

Tabak due to give evidence tomorrow

Tabak looks a wrong-un...

jury unlikely to buy Tabak's version but you never can tell

Yes think if he'd called an ambulance straight away and turned himself in he would have got manslaughter. But it all seems too calculated now: the jury aren't going to look at Mr and Mrs Yeates every day and hand down a verdict that sees him out in a few years.

A_T
But it all seems too calculated now: the jury aren't going to look at Mr and Mrs Yeates every day and hand down a verdict that sees him out in a few years.

Lets hope so

any idiot should be able to see this story has only been cooked up since he was bangto rights after his dna was found all over the body

We'll see more today.  If he panicked and overdid it (clearly) then he may have panicked more when he realised what he'd done and then tried to do anything to cover it up.  I'm guessing he's going to get manslaughter to be honest as there's doubt about any intenet or "malice aforethought".  On the other hand, professional white female...  If it had been an unemployed black or arabic woman, his manslaughter odds would be a lot shorter imo.  Sad but true.

The Pizza does seem a theme Crisp . Did you read the reports that on returning from Sheffield
and finding the flat empty Jo's boyfriend cooked himself one from the freezer, did not state what type .

Interesting Article on The ordeal of Christopher Jefferies
By Brian Cathcart
.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/22eac290-eee2-11e0-959a-00144feab49a.html#axzz1bJonEDLZ

I don't follow the reports Daniella, just get the synopsis on here.

It was probably a meat feast.

Tabak told the court about the sequence of events which led up to her death, and claimed Miss Yeates had made a "flirty comment" to him.
Tabak's partner, Tanja Morson, was away at a Christmas party that night while Miss Yeates's partner Greg Reardon was away in Sheffield.
He said he was invited into Miss Yeates's flat after waving at her when he walked past her kitchen window.
Tabak told jurors that he walked past Miss Yeates's flat on his way to the supermarket and the security light came on.

Tabak said: "She invited me in. I took off my coat. I hung it on the coat rack in the hall. We both went into the kitchen."
While in the kitchen, Tabak claimed 25-year-old Miss Yeates made a remark about her cat, which he said had recently got into his flat.
Tabak told the court that Miss Yeates said: "The cat went into places where it shouldn't go. A bit like me."
He added: "I decided to make a pass at her... I got the impression she wanted to kiss me."
After the comment, Tabak leaned forward, put a hand on her back and tried to kiss her.
She then screamed and Tabak put his hand to her mouth to stop her.
"I was panicking. I wanted to stop her screaming. I wanted to calm her down," he said.
After strangling her for less than a minute "she went limp, she fell to the floor", Tabak said, adding: "I still can't understand what happened."

Murder 1/5