Killer claims 'I ate victim'

A KILLER who claimed to have cooked and ate part of his female victim was jailed for life yesterday after pleading guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

Teeside Crown Court was told that David Harker, 24, of Darlington, Co Durham, could kill again. Julie Paterson, 32, a mother of four, was strangled last April and her dismembered body found on wasteland.

Mr Justice Bennett told Harker, earlier described as one of Britain's most dangerous psychopaths: "You killed her in the most terrible circumstances and dismembered her body. You glorified in her death and the manner of her death. I have no doubt that given the slightest opportunity you will kill again."

Harker killed Ms Patersonafter meeting her in a pub and taking her back to his flat in Darlington. He strangled her, then claimed that he cut strips of flesh from her thigh, which he cooked and ate with pasta and cheese. He claimed to have had sex with the corpse before wiping it down with bleach and sawing off the head and limbs. He then dumped the torso in a bin-bag on wasteland near Darlington football club. Ms Paterson's head was never found.

Harker was arrested afterone of an estimated 25 people to whom he boasted of the killing realised that he was telling the truth and contacted the police. They found bloodstains and some of her clothing in the basement where he lived.

Paul Worsley, prosecuting, said Harker was obsessed with serial killers and avidly read any book or viewed any programme on the subject.

He told friends his ambition was to be Britain's most notorious serial killer.

The last reported sighting of Ms Paterson was on 16 April last year. She was believed to have been killed shortly after.

Mr Justice Bennett accepted a plea of guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.