Murder accused had vampire 'interest'

A teenager accused of stabbing an Anglesey pensioner to death admitted in court he had a "small interest" in vampirism.

But the defendant, who cannot be named, claimed he had no knowledge of vampires and had viewed vampire websites "just to have a look".

Forensic officers searched the house

The 17-year-old youth is accused of stabbing 90-year-old Mabel Leyshon to death at her home in Llanfairpwll before removing her heart and drinking her blood.

He told Mold Crown Court that his interest was in immortality, but he knew it was not real.

The defendant was questioned about a separate earlier incident in which he had urged a German exchange student to bite him because he believed she was a vampire.

But he claimed he had taken cannabis at the time and his recollection of the incident was hazy.

'Going crazy'

"It was just something inside me, my genes started going crazy. I could not stop myself going crazy," he said.

He added he was not violent and that he had been holding back anger as if it had been "bottled up for centuries".

The court heard it was like an adrenalin rush, but was 60m times more than that.

It had exploded all at once inside him. He did not want to release it on anyone, harm anyone or anything.

"I was just keeping it all in," he said.

Heart cut out

A police officer said that witnesses had told how he had said vampires normally killed old women.

He replied: "Did I say that? That is news to me."

Earlier in the trial, the jury heard Mrs Leyshon's heart was cut out and wrapped in newspaper before being placed in a saucepan on top of a silver platter next to her body.

It was claimed the saucepan was filled with blood which was then drunk by the murderer in what prosecutors at Mold Crown Court called a "macabre ritual".

Denied murder

Prosecutors claim the 17-year-old art student was "obsessed" by vampires and he is accused of killing the pensioner in a bid to achieve immortality.

But the defendant denies the charge and claims he had never set foot in the pensioner's home.

Mrs Leyshon's cousin, Beatrice Williams, told the jury on Thursday how the pensioner was physically weak but led a relatively independent and routine life.

The trial continues.