Vincent Tabak trial jury to return for third day of deliberations
Jury sent away for the night after full day in the jury room considering whether death of Joanna Yeates was murder
The jury in the trial of Vincent Tabak will begin a third day of deliberations on Friday as it tries to decide whether he is guilty of murdering his neighbour Joanna Yeates.
The six men and six women began considering their verdict on Wednesday afternoon and spent a full day on Thursday in the jury room before being sent away for the night.
The judge, Mr Justice Field, repeated his warning to them not to speak about the case or do any research on it overnight. He asked them to return to Bristol crown court at 10.30am.
Tabak, a 33-year-old Dutch engineer, denies murdering 25-year-old Yeates. He admits manslaughter.
Field has told the jury he wants them to try to reach a unanimous verdict. He has explained that to come to a guilty verdict they have to be sure that Tabak intended to kill or seriously harm his neighbour when he strangled her at her flat.
As he sent them out on Wednesday, the judge urged the jury to keep emotion out of their decision. He said it was a tragedy that Yeates, a "lovely young woman with a promising future", had been "robbed of her life", but he instructed the jurors not to let feelings cloud their judgment.
During his summing up, Field said Tabak had "gained access" to Yeates's flat in Clifton, Bristol, on 17 December last year and strangled the landscape architect before "moving quickly" to cover his tracks, dumping her body at the side of a road. He had "embarked on a life of calculated deception", the judge said.
Field reminded the jurors of Tabak's claim that he tried to kiss Yeates after she made a flirtatious remark to him. Tabak says she screamed and he put one hand over her mouth and another around her neck.
The judge said an "important issue" was the duration of strangulation. Tabak says it was ar! ound 20 seconds before Yeates fell lifeless to the floor. Field pointed out that both pathologists who gave evidence during the trial expected Yeates to have struggled. Tabak says she did not struggle.
Field told the jury: "It is your task to decide if you are sure that when he strangled Joanna he intended to kill her or at the very least cause her really serious harm.
"If you are sure your verdict will be guilty. If you are not sure your verdict must be not guilty."
The trial continues.
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