/ 20 October 2008

Chef jailed in British cannibalism trial

A British chef, a former Mr Gay UK, who killed his boyfriend and then cooked a section of his flesh was sentenced to life in prison on Monday.

Anthony Morley (36) will have to spend at least 30 years in prison for slashing Damian Oldfield’s throat in April this year, stabbing him multiple times and cutting off portions of his flesh.

The court heard that Morley then cooked a piece of flesh in fresh herbs and olive oil before chewing it.

”Before this case I had associated cannibalism with eras long gone, with the tale of Robinson Crusoe,” Judge James Stewart said, describing the case as ”one of the most gruesome murders” he had ever dealt with.

”This was, in my judgement, a cold-blooded, savagely executed murder, carried out by cutting his throat as he lay in your bed and, when he fell to the floor, you stabbed him repeatedly and ferociously,” he said.

Previous to the murder, Morley and Oldfield had had sex in Morley’s bedroom in Leeds, northern England.

Morley claimed he had killed Oldfield because he had woken up to find the man performing a sexual act on him and feared he would be raped.

The chef then went to a nearby restaurant, wearing a dressing gown stained with blood and flip-flops, and told staff and police officers that he had killed someone because the person had tried to rape him.

Throughout the trial, Morley had denied the murder charge on the grounds of provocation or diminished responsibility. — Sapa-AFP