A chef was found guilty yesterday of murdering a former boyfriend and cooking his flesh.

Anthony Morley, 36, a former Mr Gay UK, had slashed Damian Oldfield’s throat before stabbing him several times after they went to bed together in April. He left a bank card over a wound on his victim’s chest.

Morley was arrested after he walked into a takeaway restaurant near his home in Leeds wearing a bloodstained dressing-gown and flip-flops and told staff there that he had killed someone who had tried to rape him.

The murder was described during a two-week trial at Leeds Crown Court as “terrible, horrific and bizarre”.

The jury was told that Morley and Mr Oldfield, 33, from Bramley, Leeds, who sold advertising space in a gay lifestyle magazine, had previously had a relationship.

On the day of the murder the pair had exchanged text messages and Morley, who was the first winner of the Mr Gay UK title in 1993 even though he had a girlfriend at the time, claimed that he was not happy with his sexuality.

In his text messages, Morley said that he would like to try to resume their relationship but that he wanted to take things slowly. The two men met in Leeds before later going back to Morley’s house, where he prepared a meal for Mr Oldfield.

The pair went to bed after drinking and Morley claimed that Mr Oldfield had assured him nothing would happen between them. But he said that he awoke to find the other man performing a sex act on him.

The court was told that Morley had been scarred for life after being groomed and raped by an older man when he was younger and that the incident had left him confused about his sexuality.

He told the jury that he had had a flashback to that incident and said he felt betrayed by Mr Oldfield’s actions and feared that he might be raped.

Morley said he did not know why he had gone on to kill Mr Oldfield, and claimed to have no memory of attacking his former boyfriend other than feeling pain when he cut his own finger with the knife.

He denied murder on the grounds of provocation or diminished responsibility.

He told the court that he could not remember carving and cooking sections of Mr Oldfield’s body but said that he might have done so because he thought he was preparing a piece of meat at work.

When police searched the house they found a chopping board with six pieces of Mr Oldfield’s cooked flesh.

A bundle of fresh herbs, a knife used to chop them, some olive oil and a dish of seeds were found on the work surface near the cooker and a frying pan was on the hob with the remnants of fried herbs and oil in it.

Cheers and applause broke out from the packed public gallery as the jury, which had deliberated for two hours and 20 minutes, returned a verdict of guilty. Morley clasped his hands and bowed his head. Several jury members left the court in tears.

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

After the verdict, Mr Oldfield’s mother, Denise, said of her son 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. He was so easygoing and friendly that to know Damian for five minutes was to know Damian as a friend.”

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