Jo killer ‘clever and deceitful’

25 October 2011 Last updated at 06:39 ET

Tabak has admitted Miss Yeates’s manslaughter but denies murder

The man accused of murdering Jo Yeates is “highly intelligent” but also “dishonest, deceitful and a liar”, a court has been told.

Vincent Tabak, 33, has admitted Miss Yeates’s manslaughter at her Bristol flat but denies murder.

At his trial at Bristol Crown Court, prosecutor Nigel Lickley QC said: “[Tabak] is calculating and makes very careful decisions”.

Miss Yeates, 25, was killed at her home in Clifton, on 17 December 2010.

Jurors are listening to closing speeches as the trial draws to a close.

The body of Miss Yeates, originally from Ampfield, Hampshire, was found by dog walkers on Christmas Day in Longwood Lane, Failand, North Somerset.

Nigel Lickley, prosecuting, told the jury: “Vincent Tabak is clever, highly intelligent. But there is another side to him. He is also dishonest, deceitful and he is a liar.

“Tabak is shrewd. He weighs up every word of what he says.”

He added Tabak’s statements to the police were carefully crafted and dishonest.

William Clegg QC, defending Tabak, is due to give his closing speech later.

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