Jo Yeates case: how can it be manslaughter?

[Cartoonjane]

we are told that the defendant is pleading not guilty to murder but guilty o manslaughter. I cant find wht type of manslaughter he is pleading in any of the press coverage. Does anyone know? Im guesing it must be the special defence of diminished responsibility but really only because i cant see it being anything else, surely not loss of contol or constructive manslaughter as she was strangled.

We haven't heard his defence yet. Until we do we won't know exactly what is being claimed. However, the extracts that have come out from his statment say he put his hand round her throat to stop her screaming but only used moderate force and only held it there for about 20 seconds. This suggests he is claiming involuntary manslaughter.

Involuntary manslaughter covers any situation where the accused did not intend to cause death or serious injury but acted negligently or recklessly. For example, if you try to commit suicide by driving the wrong way up a motorway and end up killing someone else that is likely to be manslaughter because you did not intend to kill the other person but you have clearly acted in a way that will endanger lives.

So I'm guessing his defence will be that his intention was to stop Jo Yeastes screaming, not kill her. But we will find out for sure when the defence presents its case.

The defense is expected to open its case today.

One of sky new's journalists is tweeting from within the trial, and it is actually quite fascinating in a morbid kind of way. If you're on twitter you can follow skynewsgatherer - she is pretty much tweeting the trial as it happens.