ON HIS arrest, Whant decided silence was the best way to try to get away with murder.

Police arrested him on February 9, and during the course of his first six police interviews he simply replied “no comment” to any questions officers put to him about Miss Grender’s death.

In the seventh he broke down and began crying as he slowly started to answer questions – he told police he was upset because he could not speak to his girlfriend and was worried about her and his parents as “it was all over the headlines and people know”.

When he did begin to talk, he bluntly replied “no” when asked if he was responsible for Miss Grender’s death, and even claimed he had a friendly relationship with her.

Initially he told police he never had sex with Miss Grender, maintaining that stance until police presented him with forensic evidence showing his semen had been found inside her.

Once police showed him this crucial piece of evidence he refused to answer any more questions and simply gave a prepared statement and said he did not feel well enough to continue the interviews.

Then, in December 2011, Whant changed his story completely when his defence statement was filed to account for the fact his DNA was at the murder scene.

Whant then claimed when he dropped Mr Mayes off at his flat on February 4 that Mr Mayes had sex with Miss Grender and then invited him to have sex with her while he did his ironing in the kitchen before the two men went out for the evening.