Vincent Tabak 'told chaplain he would admit killing Joanna Yeates'

A prison chaplain has described the moment Vincent Tabak told him he would admit to killing the landscape architect Joanna Yeates. Tabak was in the health unit at Long Lartin prison in Worcestershire because of fears that he could kill himself while being held over Yeates's death, Bristol crown court heard on Tuesday. Tabak asked to speak to chaplain Peter Brotherton and told him he was feeling "so-so", the court heard. He went on: "I've got something to tell you that's going to shock you." Brotherton told the jury that he replied: "You tell me and we'll see." Brotherton said the prisoner told him: "I'm going to change my plea to guilty." Brotherton asked him if it was "concerning the young lady from Bristol". Tabak replied that it was, the jury was told. The court was told that the chaplain asked him if he was sorry for what he had done, and Tabak replied that he was. He went on to say he would find it "very difficult" to tell his girlfriend, the jury heard. According to the chaplain, Brotherton offered to say a prayer with him but Tabak declined. He gave Tabak a handwritten prayer, shook hands with him and left. The chaplain said he told his superior what Tabak had said and it was reported to a security officer. Later when they met again Tabak appeared "angry" at Brotherton and told him he would not tell him anything else, the court was told. Cross-examining Brotherton, William Clegg QC, for Tabak, suggested the chaplain was wrong in claiming the defendant had said he was going to "change his plea". Clegg suggested his client had simply said: "I'm going to plead guilty." He had already told his lawyers that he had killed Yeates, Clegg said, adding that Tabak was "a depressed and distressed man unburdening himself". The conversation between Tabak and the chaplain took place on 8 February, three weeks after he was arrested, the jury heard. Tabak, a 33-year-old engineer, denies murdering 25-year-old Yeates but admits manslaughter. The prosecution alleges Tabak murdered Yeates at her flat in Bristol before dumping the body on a roadside verge three miles away. The jury was given more details about the scientific evidence that is said to link Tabak to the victim. Traces of DNA that matched Tabak's profile were found on Yeates's chest area, it was claimed. Yeates's blood was also discovered in the boot of Tabak's car, the jury heard. Cross-examining forensic scientist Lindsay Lennen, Clegg raised the possibility that Yeates's body could have been transported from her flat in Clifton, Bristol, to the verge where the body was found in Tabak's cycle bag. He asked her if was possible that Tabak's DNA could have been transferred from the bag to Yeates. Lennen agreed it was possible. Earlier Yeates's mother, Teresa, wept as a photograph of her daughter's body was shown to a jury. Mrs Yeates looked away and was comforted by her husband, David, when the mortuary picture showing her daughter lying fully clothed in the foetal position with her pink top pushed up, appeared on a screen in court. As Mr Yeates supported his wife, he looked over his shoulder from the public gallery towards Tabak, who was sitting in the dock. Tabak kept his head bowed and placed his hands on the top of his head. The photograph – along with others – had been shown to the jury on Friday when Yeates's parents were not in court. On Tuesday the picture was shown during the evidence of forensic scientist Tanya Nickson, who had examined bloodstains found on a wall next to where the body was discovered on Christmas morning. She said the blood pattern indicated "smearing" rather than "spattering", suggesting it was unlikely that Yeates had been assaulted there. Nickson told the jury: "The presence of the blood on the top of the wall may indicate that an attempt was made to deposit the body over the top of the wall." The trial continues.