IN LOVING MEMORY OF JOANNA YEATES (19 APRIL 1985 TO 17 DECEMBER 2010)

“For us, it is with regret that capital punishment is not a possible option. The best we can hope for him is that he spends the rest of his life incarcerated where his life is a living hell, being the recipient of all the evils, deprivations and degradations that his situation can provide.”

- Parents of Joanna Yeates [Friday 28 October 2011]

            Unit 1012 will remember 25-year-old Joanna Yeates who was murdered on this date, 17 December 2010 in Bristol, England.

Joanna Yeates
Joanna Yeates
Born	Joanna Clare Yeates 19 April 1985 Hampshire, England
Died	17 December 2010 (aged 25) Clifton, Bristol, England
Cause of death	Strangulation
Body discovered	Failand, Somerset, England
Resting place	Ampfield, Hampshire, England
Occupation	Landscape architect
Known for	Murder victim
Height	5 ft 4 in (163 cm)

Joanna Clare Yeates (19 April 1985 – 17 December 2010) was a landscape architect from Hampshire, England, who went missing on 17 December 2010 in Bristol after an evening out with colleagues. Following a highly publicised appeal for information on her whereabouts and intensive police enquiries, her body was discovered on 25 December 2010 in Failand, North Somerset. A post-mortem examination determined that she had been strangled.

The murder inquiry, codenamed Operation Braid, was one of the largest police investigations ever undertaken in the Bristol area. The case dominated news coverage in the United Kingdom around the Christmas period as Yeates' family sought assistance from the public through social networking services and press conferences. Rewards amounting to £60,000 were offered for information leading to those responsible for Yeates' death. The police initially suspected and arrested Christopher Jefferies, Yeates' landlord, who lived in a flat in the same building. He was subsequently released without charge.

Vincent Tabak, a 32-year-old Dutch engineer and neighbour of Yeates, was arrested on 20 January 2011. Media attention at the time centred on the filming of a re-enactment of her disappearance for the BBC's programme, Crimewatch. After two days of questioning, Tabak was charged on 22 January 2011 with Yeates' murder. On 5 May 2011, he pleaded guilty to Yeates' manslaughter, but denied murdering her. His trial started on 4 October 2011; he was found guilty of murder on 28 October 2011, and sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 20 years.

The nature of press reporting on aspects of the case led to legal proceedings against several UK newspapers. Libel action was brought by Jefferies against eight publications over their coverage of his arrest, resulting in the payment to him of substantial damages. The Daily Mirror and The Sun were found guilty of contempt of court for reporting information that could prejudice a trial.

A memorial service was held for Yeates at the parish church in the Bristol suburb where she lived; her funeral took place near the family home in Hampshire. Several memorials were planned, including one in a garden she had been designing for a new hospital in Bristol.

INTERNET SOURCE: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Joanna_Yeates