Peterborough: Serial Killer Took 'Grinning Selfie'

21 January 2014, 12:49 | Updated: 21 January 2014, 15:38

A court has heard how Peterborough serial killer Joanna Dennehy took a grinning selfie photograph of herself as she searched out further victims.

The picture, shown to jurors in the trial of her two alleged accomplices, shows the 31-year-old murderer posing and sticking out her tongue in the back of a Vauxhall Astra moments before she selected and stabbed her fourth and fifth victims.

Dennehy had already killed three men in Cambridgeshire when she randomly targeted the two dog walkers in Hereford. 

Both men suffered multiple injuries but survived. Mark Lloyd, who was in the same car as Dennehy and her alleged accomplice Gary Stretch, told Cambridge Crown Court that Dennehy had been driven by a thirst for blood. 

Describing the attack on the first man, Robin Bereza, he said: "I thought she was going to mug him but then it twigged on me.

I thought 'You just want blood'.'' 

Jurors were also shown CCTV footage of Dennehy taken in Green Lane Stores, Hereford, moments before the April 2 attacks.

In it she is seen laughing and joking with Mr Lloyd. 

Mr Lloyd said he had considered telling the shop assistant to call the police and raise the alarm about her plans to carry on the killing spree. 

"I wanted to say something but there wasn't the time,'' he said. 

A wanted appeal had been issued to trace Dennehy and Stretch following the murders of Lukasz Slaboszewski, 31, John Chapman, 56, and Kevin Lee, 48, who were found dumped in ditches near Peterborough in March and April last year. 

She had bragged to friends that she and Stretch were like Bonnie and Clyde, the court has heard. 

Cross-examined by Stretch's counsel Karim Khalil QC today, Mr Lloyd said he was scared of Dennehy and had no choice but to join the pair on the journey to Hereford. 

He added: "If she had told me to put my head through the windscreen, I would have done.'' 

Dennehy, of Orton Goldhay, Peterborough, has admitted murder.

She has also admitted the attempted murders of Mr Bereza and John Rogers and preventing the lawful and decent burial of all three murder victims. 

Stretch and another man, Leslie Layton, are standing trial accused of helping her dispose of the bodies and covering up her crimes. 

Jurors have been shown pictures of Dennehy smiling and posing with a knife shortly after murdering the men. 

In another picture she flashes her bra and shows off self-harming scars. 

Stretch is photographed mimicking her pose and making an obscene gesture to the camera. 

Describing the moment he found out the pair were wanted by police, Mr Lloyd said: "I thought it was Gary who done the murders because he's 7ft 2in and looks like Herman off The Munsters. 

She looks like butter wouldn't melt until she opens her mouth.'' 

Mr Lloyd told the court that, as they made their way to Hereford, Dennehy said: "I want to have my fun.'' 

Dennehy had made clear she wanted "a man with a dog'' and Stretch helped with this search, he said. 

After the second attack, on dog-walker Mr Rogers, Dennehy climbed back into the car driven by Stretch. 

She was carrying Mr Rogers' whippet and told the pair: "It's me only friend.'' 

Mr Lloyd went on: "Afterwards, Gary drove off very, very calmly. 

It was as if they'd just stopped for McDonald's.'' 

Stretch, real name Gary Richards, 47, of Riseholme, Orton Goldhay, Peterborough, denies three charges of preventing the lawful burial of all three men and two counts of attempted murder. 

Layton, 36, of Bifield, Orton Goldhay, denies perverting the course of justice and two counts of preventing the lawful burial of the bodies of Mr Chapman and Mr Lee.

A third man, Robert Moore, 55, of Belvoir Way, Peterborough, has admitted assisting an offender and is awaiting sentence.