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Former Mr Gay UK Found Guilty of Murdering His Boyfriend and Eating His Flesh

by Gopalan on Oct 19 2008 12:39 PM

36-year-old Anthony Morley, a former Mr Gay UK has been found guilty of murdering his boyfriend Damian Oldfield and later eating parts of his flesh.

Anthony Morley (36), a former Mr Gay UK, has been found guilty of murdering his boyfriend Damian Oldfield (34) and later eating parts of his flesh.

Oldfield’s naked body was found on Morley’s bedroom floor in the early hours of April 24.

Morley had cooked Oldfield a meal before the two men went to the bedroom and then had sex.

Morley, a chef, slashed Damian Oldfield's throat before stabbing him multiple times and cutting sections of flesh from his body, prosecution said.

He went on to season the carved portions with fresh herbs, frying them in olive oil and chewing a section.

He later walked into a nearby takeaway wearing a bloodstained dressing gown and flipflops and told staff he had killed someone because he tried to rape him.

Anthony Morley told the court that he slit Damian Oldfield’s throat after he tried to rape him.

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Police found six lightly-fried pieces of 33-year-old Oldfield’s leg mixed with herbs on a chopping board in Morley’s kitchen.

A seventh piece — which Morley had chewed — was in a bin bag.

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Morley, who admits the cannibal killing but denies murder, told Leeds Crown Court he could not remember seasoning and cooking Oldfield.

He added: “At some point Damian’s body had just become something I would deal with at work — a piece of meat. That’s the only thing I can think of. That was my daily task, preparing meat.”

Morley said he was sexually confused and had sent Mr Oldfield a text message saying he wanted to take their relationship slowly.

He had gone for drinks with the victim — nicknamed “Tough Poof” — before taking him back to his Leeds home.

Morley, who was more than three times the drink-drive limit, said he killed Oldfield due to a “feeling of betrayal” over the attempted rape.

Speaking for Morley, Richard Smith QC told the court the defendant had “diminished responsibility” for the “terrible, horrific and bizarre killing”.

Referring back to when Morley was allegedly raped as a teen, he said: “Anthony Morley did not know from that day to the day he killed Damian Oldfield whether he was homosexual or heterosexual.

“The man who raped him ceased contact with the defendant 12 years ago but was named by him to the police when Anthony Morley surrendered himself."

A jury at Leeds Crown Court took just two hours and 20 minutes Friday to find him guilty of murder.

Judge James Stewart QC said he would sentence Morley on Monday.

After the verdict, Oldfield's mother, Denise, said in a statement: 'We shared a special bond, which I can still feel, but now I'm only left with memories and that's not good enough.

'Damian loved life and he has had that taken away from him in the cruellest of circumstances.’

Detective Inspector Scott Wood, of the Homicide and Major Inquiry Team of West Yorkshire Police, praised Oldfield's family for their dignity throughout the investigation and trial.

He said: 'Thankfully disturbing crimes of this type remain incredibly rare events.

'None of the investigation team has been involved in a crime of this nature before.'

Crowned the first ever Mr Gay UK in 1993, Morley had worked as a dancer in gay clubs.

During the trial, police screened footage from God’s Gift show, which used to be aired in the early hours in 1995-96 and was dubbed 'Blind Date for the post-pub crowd'.

The episode showed Morley performing a half strip in front of a crowd of baying young men from whom he later chooses a date. One of the men in the crowd was Damian Oldfield.

Fighting back the grisly reports circulating in the media, Wendy Stewart, a former girlfriend of Morley says may be because she broke up with him, Morley turned, ahem, a cannibal. When she was with him, he was perfectly normal.

“He was just wonderful to be with, a fun bloke with a cute face and a great smile,” she said.“Anthony had been living with an older man but I never thought of that as a gay relationship.

“I had no need to, he was a fantastic lover — better than many men.

“His dream had been to be a ballet dancer, but that was wrecked when he broke his ankle. But he made money from dancing in gay clubs.”

Morley told her he’d entered the Mr Gay UK contest simply to promote himself as a model. Wendy said: “I went to the final in Blackpool but kept out of sight so I didn’t spoil his chances — and he won! He was Mr Gay UK, but it was me he spent the night with, making love in our hotel room.”

The couple even talked of marriage and children but they split when she went to work in France — and now she blames HERSELF for his flesh-eating crime.

She said: “If I hadn’t abandoned Anthony, none of this would have happened. I should have kept in touch to help keep him normal.”



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