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Anthony Morley (born 1972) is an English model and convicted murderer, who won the first Mr Gay UK contest in 1993. He was recently imprisoned for the killing, dismemberment and partial consumption of his lover, magazine executive Damian Oldfield.

In 1996, Morley was a contestant on the television programme God's Gift; one of the audience members of that edition was Damian Oldfield. Oldfield was a contestant of another edition of the show in October 1996.

On May 2, 2008, it was announced that Morley had been arrested for the murder of Oldfield, who worked for the gay lifestyle magazine Bent. After inviting Oldfield into his Leeds apartment, police believe that Morley killed him, removed a section of his leg and began cooking it, before he stumbled into a nearby kebab house around 2:30 in the morning, drenched in blood and asking that someone call the police.

He was found guilty on October 17, 2008 and sentenced to life imprisonment for the crime.

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The violent past of cannibal chef

BBC News

Monday, 20 October 2008

A chef who murdered his lover and ate part of his flesh was a violent drunk with a history of aggressive behaviour.

Anthony Morley once attacked a former boyfriend with a meat cleaver before threatening ambulance staff with an air rifle.

On another occasion he told a man he could kill him with his bare hands.

The 36-year-old was jailed for life, with a minimum term of 30 years, at Leeds Crown Court after being convicted of murdering Damian Oldfield.

At the centre of Morley's destructive anger lay confusion over his sexuality, the court heard.

Since his first homosexual relationship when he was a teenager, Morley, of Bexley Place, Leeds, did not know whether he was gay, straight or bisexual.

And this frustration was said to have contributed to the "cold-blooded, savagely executed murder" of 33-year-old Mr Oldfield in Morley's bedroom in April.

Morley grew up in Leeds and had dreams of becoming a dancer.

In 1993 he entered the first Mr Gay UK competition, winning the title, £1,000 and a holiday to Gran Canaria.

However, Morley claimed he was not gay when he won the contest and actually had a steady girlfriend at the time.

But he did admit to "adventuring" into ideas of relationships with men and was said to have had a relationship with an older man when he was a teenager.

After his win, Morley moved to London, where he pursued a career in modelling and dance, using opportunities given to him by winning the competition.

On his return to Leeds, he trained as a chef and worked at a number of top restaurants in the city, eventually becoming a sous-chef specialising in seafood.

Drink problem

He appeared on an late night dating television game show hosted by Davina McCall where he chose a date from a crowd of men, which included his future victim Mr Oldfield.

Morley later had a five-year relationship with a man called Shaun Wood but also went on to have a relationship with a woman, lasting about three years.

He had encounters with both men and women and said his sexuality worried him, claiming he just "wanted to be normal".

And he was also known to have had an alcohol problem.

The chef once attacked former boyfriend Mr Wood with a meat cleaver after he had been drinking and they had a disagreement about money.

Mr Wood said: "He went to the kitchen and came back and sat down on the settee and five minutes later he leapt up and went for me with a meat cleaver, but unfortunately he fell backwards so it didn't get me."

During the incident, Morley smashed up his bedroom before threatening ambulance staff with an air rifle.

Steven Robinson, who knew Mr Oldfield from bars in Leeds, described how Morley had once grabbed him by the neck of his shirt and told him he could kill with his hands.

On the day of Mr Oldfield's murder, the pair met after exchanging texts in which Morley said he wanted to take things slowly.

The two men went to Morley's house, where he cooked a meal of fish for them both before they went upstairs to his bedroom.

The pair, who had both been drinking, stripped to their underwear and kissed and cuddled while watching a DVD of gay cowboy film Brokeback Mountain.

Morley claimed he woke to find Mr Oldfield performing a sexual act on him and said he had felt betrayed after telling him he wanted to take things slowly.

It led Morley to slash Mr Oldfield's throat and stab him multiple times.

He then cut chunks of flesh from his body, which he cooked and tried to eat.

Andrew Stubbs QC, prosecutor in Morley's trial, said the chef had killed Mr Oldfield because he could not deal with his homosexuality when he was drunk.

Mr Stubbs said: "It was a killing borne out of hatred for what he felt and what had happened to him, hatred for his own sexuality and now for the homosexual who was in his bed."

Former Mr Gay UK who killed and cooked victim guilty of murder

By Staff Writer, PinkNews.co.uk

October 17, 2008

A jury at Leeds Crown Court found Anthony Morley guilty of the murder of Damian Oldfield this afternoon.

The jury took less than three hours to reach their verdict.

Mr Oldfield, 33, sustained more than 30 stab wounds, some of them post mortem, and pieces of his leg and chest had been sliced off.

His jugular vein had been cut open in the attack at Morley's home.

Police found pieces of muscle, skin and flesh under Mr Oldfield's naked body, which was discovered by officers in Morley's bedroom in his flat in Harehills on April 24th.

Morley, a chef, had seasoned and cooked some of Mr Oldfield's flesh and chewed a piece before discarding it.

Chunks of cooked flesh were found on the chopping board in his kitchen.

The victim had a jagged 27cm by 14cm wound in his chest, and a similar sized one in his thigh.

Valerie Tomlinson, a forensic scientist, told the court she examined Morley's house shortly after the killing took place.

She told the jury that in Morley's kitchen she found a blue chopping board containing six pieces of human flesh on it, together with a cleaver.

There she also found fresh herbs, olive oil and a dish of seeds. A frying pan on the hob contained herbs and oil.

She told the court: "It does suggest that the original piece of meat had been cooked as one piece of meat and subsequently chopped."

Adding that on the cleaver: "there was greasy staining but very little actual blood on that item. It may well have been used to chop the original piece of meat after the meat had been fried."

Ms Tomlinson also told the court that a partly consumed piece of flesh was found in a plastic bin bag in the kitchen.

Damian Oldfield was an employee of All Points North, the company owning 'Bent' Magazine, 'Mission' Club in Leeds and the 'Mr Gay UK' brand. He worked as an advertising manager for the magazine.

Mr Oldfield and his killer had been involved in a relationship of some kind in the previous months and that they exchanged a series of text messages on April 23rd, the date of Mr Oldfield's death.

One text implied that Morley was having difficulties with his sexuality but would "like to try again" but "take it slow".

The prosecution told the court that after sexual activity took place that Morley then stabbed Oldfield in the throat.

The court was told that there was no sign of struggle and that it was possible that the victim was attacked from behind.

Morley later went to a takeaway restaurant and asked for the police to be called.

Morley was reported to have said to police: "It's this lad, he tried to rape me so I stopped him."

Morley said that he had a steady girlfriend when he won the first Mr Gay UK competition in 1993 and his lawyer claimed that he was conflicted about his sexual orientation.

Prosecution barrister Andrew Stubbs QC told the court that Morley could not come to terms with his sexuality and killed Damian Oldfield after cooking for him and watching the film Brokeback Mountain.

Morley told the court on Monday how he and Mr Oldfield were watching a DVD in bed at the time:

"I remember feeling that he was on top of me doing what he was doing.

"I felt numb and out of control. I felt uncomfortable and betrayed.

"We had talked about the whole situation.

"I was not comfortable with having a sexual relationship when we had only just got to know each other.

"I can only say 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."

Professor Nigel Eastman, a forensic psychiatrist, told the court that Morley could have suffered flashbacks to an alleged rape he suffered as a teenager, which may explain his motivation for the attack on Mr Oldfield.

Prof Eastman said that Morley was likely to have been in a "dissociative state" during the alleged attack, which would back up his claim that he has no memory of it taking place.

"There's an assault, there are flashbacks and that makes dissociation likely during the killing," Prof Eastman said.

The court heard evidence from forensic psychiatrist, Dr Patrick Quinn, who also assessed Morley.

Dr Quinn said that he did not think he was suffering from any mental illness, and that Morley had never mentioned any flashbacks during the two assessments they held.

Dr Quinn said Morley had told him that he was raped when he was 17.

Mr Stubbs said the claim that he was raped was a "nonsense."

The victim's mother, Denise Oldfield spoke of her son: "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 easy going and friendly that to know Damian for five minutes was to know Damian as a friend.

"Damian always made a big impression on those who knew him and I have been very touched by all the messages that have been left on the Gone Too Soon and Facebook websites.

"It's testament to Damian's popularity that school friends as well those who knew Damian more recently have left messages."

Adding: "Damian will be sadly missed by all those who knew and loved him.

"Gran, older brother Craig and sister-in-law Tracy, as well as all his nieces and nephews, will miss his smile and his company."

Morley, 36, will be sentenced on Monday.

Gay cannibal chef: It was like work

By Alastair Taylor - TheSun.co.uk

14 Oct 2008

A GAY chef accused of killing a pal and frying pieces of his body treated his victim like meat at work, a court heard yesterday.

Former Mr Gay UK Anthony Morley, 36, said he slit Damian Oldfield's throat after he tried to rape him.

Police found six lightly-fried pieces of 33-year-old Mr 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.

Morley, who admits the cannibal killing but denies murder, told Leeds Crown Court he could not remember seasoning and cooking Mr 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 Mr Oldfield due to a "feeling of betrayal" over the attempted rape. The trial continues.

Human flesh in Gay UK home

TheSun.co.uk

08 Oct 2008

PIECES of human flesh were found on a chopping board in the kitchen of a former Mr Gay UK, a court heard today.

Anthony Morley, 36, of Leeds, stabbed Damian Oldfield to death before carving off a chunk of his thigh, seasoning, frying and eating bits of it, Leeds Crown Court has heard.

Morley, a trained chef who won the first Mr Gay UK title in 1993, cooked the flesh in a frying pan in one piece before chopping it into seven sections, the jury was told.

Today, Valerie Tomlinson, a forensic scientist, told the court she examined Morley's house shortly after the killing took place in his bedroom.

Ms Tomlinson described finding the blue chopping board with six pieces of human meat on it, a cleaver and some tongs in the kitchen.

She said there was also a bundle of fresh herbs, a knife used to chop them, some olive oil and a dish of seeds on the work surface near to the cooker.

A frying pan was found on the hob with the remnants of fried herbs and oil in it, Ms Tomlinson told the court.

Richard Mansell, prosecuting, said: "Those pieces of flesh appear to be rare or raw through the middle and browned at the edges."

Ms Tomlinson said that was correct and added: "It does suggest that the original piece of meat had been cooked as one piece of meat and subsequently chopped."

Commenting on the cleaver found in the kitchen, she said: "There was greasy staining but very little actual blood on that item. It may well have been used to chop the original piece of meat after the meat had been fried."

Ms Tomlinson said a piece of flesh that appeared to have been CHEWED was found in a white plastic bag inside a bin bag in the kitchen.

The witness told the jury that another piece of flesh had been cut from Mr Oldfield's chest area and a Lloyds TSB BANK CARD placed over the area where his nipple would have been.

The court has heard that Morley and Mr Oldfield, 33, from the Bramley area of Leeds, had been involved in a relationship in the past and had exchanged a series of text messages in April this year.

In the texts, Morley told openly-gay Mr Oldfield he wasn't happy with his sexuality and said he would "like to try again" but wanted "to take it slow".

The pair met in Leeds that night and later went back to Morley's house, where the defendant prepared a meal for them both before the pair went upstairs to his bedroom.

The prosecution claim that sexual activity took place in the bedroom before Morley launched his attack on Mr Oldfield, cutting his throat and stabbing him numerous times.

After the attack, Morley went to a nearby takeaway, wearing only a blood-stained white dressing gown and flip flops and with blood on his hands, and told staff he had killed someone because they had tried to rape him.

When police arrived to arrest him, he repeated the claims to officers.

Morley admits killing Mr Oldfield but denies murder.

Issues in the trial will be over provocation and diminished responsibility.

The case was adjourned until tomorrow.

Yesterday pictures emerged of the accused "cannibal" killer with his arm round star Danni Minogue on the night he won the Mr Gay UK title.

Pop singer Dannii, now a judge on The X Factor, was in her early 20s when the snap was taken at the Flamingo club in Blackpool.

Muscular Morley was also proud of pictures of himself and Liverpool singer Sonia taken at a Gay Pride event in London.

Mr Gay fried and nibbled pal

By Alastair Taylor - TheSun.co.uk

07 Oct 2008

A FORMER Mr Gay UK stabbed a pal to death before seasoning parts of his body with herbs, frying the flesh in olive oil and trying to eat it, a cannibal murder trial heard yesterday.

Chef Anthony Morley carved eight inches off Damian Oldfield's thigh.

He even tried chewing a piece of cooked flesh and muscle before throwing it in a bin, the court was told.

Morley, the first-ever Mr Gay UK winner in 1993, then walked to a kebab shop in a blood-spattered white dressing gown and flip-flops.

He allegedly told staff: "I have killed someone, call the police.

"Someone tried to rape me so I killed that person. What have I done?"

Prosecutor Andrew Stubbs QC told Leeds Crown Court cops went to Morley's home in the city and found the body of Mr Oldfield, who worked for gay magazine Bent, naked on the bedroom floor.

He had been stabbed dozens of times in his throat, chest, and thigh and had 19 wounds in his back.

Mr Stubbs said there were no signs of struggle and that "sexual activity" had taken place.

The court heard Morley, 36, and Mr Oldfield, 33, were lovers in the past.

But Morley, who also had relationships with women, had problems with his sexuality.

He denies murder.

His barrister Robert Smith QC admitted Morley cut Mr Oldfield's throat and seasoned parts of the body - "cooking and sampling a section by chewing".

He added Morley was guilty at least of manslaughter, but the issue would be over provocation or abnormality of mind.

The trial continues.