Neighbour charged with Jo Yeates murder

A 32-YEAR-OLD man was last night charged with the murder of Joanna Yeates. Vincent Tabak, from Holland, will appear at Bristol Magistrates' Court tomorrow accused of killing the 25-year-old landscape architect.

Detective Chief Inspector Phil Jones, who led the inquiry, said: "This evening we have charged Vincent Tabak with the murder of Joanna Yeates.

"I would like to pay tribute to Jo's family and Greg (her boyfriend] for their assistance and dignity in the most difficult of circumstances. I would also like to thank the general public for their help and the information they continue to provide to the investigation, and the residents of Canynge Road for their co-operation and patience."

The snow-covered body of Yeates, who was last seen on 17 December after going for Christmas drinks with colleagues at her architectural firm, was found on Christmas Day near a golf course three miles from her home.

A huge police operation swung into action and her distraught family and boyfriend, 27-year-old Greg Reardon, who had been away visiting his family in Sheffield, appealed to the public for information relating to her murder. She had been strangled.

Tabak was detained in the early hours of Thursday. Since then, specialist search teams have moved into a neighbouring flat in the building where Yeates lived at Canynge Road, Clifton, Bristol. Tabak is registered as living at the address with his girlfriend, Tanja Morson, and works as a "people- flow analyst" for engineering firm Buro Happold in Bath.

Tabak's arrest was the second to be made by detectives since Yeates's frozen body was found. Her landlord, Chris Jefferies, 66, was arrested on 30 December and questioned.