Attack on psychiatrist in Cardiff park may have lasted 30 minutes, court told

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A “homophobic and violent” attack on a consultant psychiatrist in a Cardiff park may have lasted for up to 30 minutes, a court has been told.

Dr Gary Jenkins, 54, died from his injuries after being set upon by three people, including a teenage girl, in Bute Park in the early hours of July 20 2021.

During a trial at Merthyr Crown Court, prosecutor Dafydd Enoch QC said the assault could be seen as “torture” because of its prolonged nature, and claimed the defendants saw it as “sport”.

Jason Edwards, 25, Lee Strickland, 36, and a 17-year-old girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, are accused of Dr Jenkins’ murder.

All three have admitted being involved in his unlawful killing and have pleaded guilty to manslaughter, robbery and assault.

On the final day of the trial on Wednesday, the jury were once again played the 15-minute audio clip of the attack, which was taken from a CCTV camera inside the nearby Summerhouse Café.

In it, Dr Jenkins repeatedly pleads for his life, saying “stop it” and “leave me alone”.

All three defendants can be heard encouraging each other to take part in the beating while they swear and verbally abuse Dr Jenkins, with male voices heard using homophobic language.

In his closing speech, Mr Enoch said a man can be heard shouting “help me” 15 minutes before the main audio of the attack begins.

“Who could that be calling for help other than Gary Jenkins?” he asked.

“The reality, you may think, is that the attack on Dr Jenkins started 30 minutes before the audio ends.

“We don’t know what’s happening to him in the 14-minute gap when the audio didn’t pick anything up, but it’s a sobering thought, isn’t it?”

He asked: “The issue is, simply, are you sure that, during the course of the very long beating administered to Dr Jenkins, they intended that he receive really serious harm as opposed to some harm?

“As you listen to the incident on the audio from the Summerhouse, and as seconds tick by, then a minute ticked by, then more minutes until 15 minutes have ticked by as he received the pummelling to the head and body, which you could hear, as all the defendants shouted and swore at him at the tops of their voices, as he begged for his life and to be left alone, what were each of these defendants intending if it wasn’t really serious harm?”

None of the three defendants took to the witness box and their legal teams called no evidence on their behalf.

However, in their closing arguments, the defending barristers said it was their belief the evidence showed their clients were guilty of manslaughter, not murder.

Ignatius Hughes QC, representing Edwards, said there was no proof his client stamped on Dr Jenkins’ head and intended to kill or seriously harm him.

He said blood found on the defendant’s black Fila trainer, which the prosecution say got there as a result of him kicking the psychiatrist, could have been from him standing close to the victim as he was attacked.

William Hughes QC, for Strickland, emphasised his client’s level of intoxication at the time and questioned whether he would have been capable of forming an intent to kill, given the state he was in.

Strickland can be seen on CCTV drinking in the hours leading up to the attack and admitted to police he had smoked Spice, a synthetic cannabis.

Caroline Rees, defending the teenage girl, said her client was not targeting gay men and had herself been in a same-sex relationship.

She said the youth did not have a want to carry out violence but only intended on committing theft, having been recorded before the attack saying: “If we’re going to stay in f****** Bute Park, can we at least go and steal?”

The jury have now retired to consider their verdict.