Yeates killer weeps over corpse photos

Joanna Yeates's killer wept in the dock yesterday as harrowing images of her body were shown in court.

The jury were shown pictures of the 25-year-old's snow-covered corpse – as it was discovered by dog walkers on Christmas Day last year, and as it was later in the mortuary. She had suffered 43 injuries.

Bristol Crown Court heard how the landscape architect had struggled violently against her attacker as he strangled her.

Yesterday, Vincent Tabak, a 33-year-old Dutch engineer, who admits manslaughter but denies murder, covered his face with his hands as the images were shown on screen.

Ms Yeates disappeared after returning to her Bristol flat from drinks with colleagues on 17 December 2010. Her body was found eight days later.

Pathologist Russell Delaney said he found injuries around Ms Yeates's face and neck, and said bruising above her right eye, a graze on her cheek and injuries on her nose and lip, must have been inflicted while she was still alive. "Bruising only occurs when the heart is beating," he said, adding there were no injuries to the genitalia.