(London) Anthony Morley was handed a life sentence Monday for murdering a gay sex partner and then cannibalizing part of the body.

A jury took just over two hours Friday to find Morley guilty in the killing of Damian Oldfield, 33.

The public gallery in the courtroom in Leeds burst into applause Monday as Judge James Stewart passed sentence. One man yelled “murderer” and Stewart had to gavel the court to order.

Stewart called the killing “one of the most gruesome murders” he had ever encountered.

“Not only did you murder your victim by cutting his throat and stabbing him but you cut him up, cooked him and ate part of him,” Stewart said.

“Before this case I had associated cannibalism with eras long gone, with the tale of Robinson Crusoe. No longer. You have plumbed depths rarely encountered in our court.”

During the trial, Morley – the winner of the Mr. Gay UK contest in 1993 – told the court that he had been grappling with his sexuality and had snapped on the night of the murder.

But Morley testified that he did not remember most of the events after the murder.

A stunned courtroom was told by prosecution witnesses that based on forensic tests on parts of Oldfield’s body found in Morley’s apartment, portions of Morley’s leg and chest had been sliced off.

They were then rubbed with olive oil and herbs and fried. Morley, who had worked as a chef, then consumed portions of the “meal.”

“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. I can’t think of any rational reason why I would think of doing something like that,” Morley told the court.

It is not the first time a gay man has been arrested for murder and cannibalizing his victims.

Two separate cases occurred in Germany.

The most famous involved Armin Meiwes, 44, who is serving time for murdering and devouring Bernd Juergen Brandes, 43, in 2001.

Meiwes and Brandes met through an internet bulletin board or BBS for gay men interested in a cannibalism fetish.

“If you are between 18 and 25 years old you are my boy. Come to me and I eat your horny flesh” his ad said.

The case came to light when Meiwes posted more ads after Meiwes death for additional victims, and readers of the postings contacted police.

When police searched Meiwes’ home they discovered neatly wrapped body parts in plastic bags which were labeled “according to cuts”. Bones and other “non edibles” were found buried in the garden. Meiwes told police he already had consumed about 40 pounds of Brandes’s body.

He told police that the two men had enjoyed a final meal together. Brandes had agreed to be castrated and the two sautéed his penis and testicles. They washed down the meal with a German white wine.

The other German case of gay man who killed his partner in 2005, dismembered him, and then froze the body parts to eat later.

Last year in Mexico City, a bisexual man and his gay lover were arrested for the murder and cannibalization of his some-time girlfriend.