18/02/2013

Accused On Trial Over British Woman Beheading In Tenerife

The trial begins today of a man accused of murdering and beheading a British woman on the island of Tenerife in May 2011.

60-year-old Jennifer Mills-Westley had moved to Tenerife after retiring from her job as a road safety officer with Norfolk county council.

She was killed on the 13 May in the resort of Los Cristianos in the Canary Islands.

Bulgarian man Deyan Deyanov, 29, is charged with her murder and will stand trial before a jury at the provincial court in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Prosecutors are expected to ask for a sentence of 20 years in a mental asylum because he has chronic paranoid schizophrenia.

Deyanov reportedly walked into a shop to ask for a large knife before launching the attack. After killing her he was allegedly heard saying "God is on earth" as he carried his victim's head out the front door.

His defence is expected to argue that he was not criminally responsible for Ms Mills-Westley's death because of his mental condition.

(H/GK)

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