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TEEN GIRL ‘LAUGHED AS SHE ATTACKED AND TORTURED’ FATHER-OF-TWO IN CARDIFF PARK


A teenage girl was among a trio who laughed when they “viciously attacked and tortured” a father of two in a park in Cardiff, a court has been told.

Dr. Gary Jenkins, 54, was violently assaulted in Bute Park in the early hours of July 20, 2021.


The counseling psychiatrist sustained several serious brain injuries and died at the University Hospital of Wales 16 days later on 5 August.

Prosecutor Dafydd Enoch

Jason Edwards, 25, Lee Strickland, 36, and a 17-year-old girl who cannot be named for legal reasons are charged with her murder at Merthyr Crown Court in South Wales.

Prosecutor Dafydd Enoch said the attack was “motivated by greed, homophobia and outright violence”.

He told the court that the three defendants had been “on the hunt for vulnerable gay men who were in the park for sex” to rob.


He said they sat on Dr. Jenkins, who begged for his life.

The teenager, who was 16 at the time, was described by witness Lewis Williams – who tried to intervene to stop the beating – as “evil” and “sadistic”, Mr Enoch told the court.


He begs again and again until he can no longer speak

Sir. Enoch, to Dr. Jenkins

Enoch said the sound of the assault, recorded by a nearby CCTV camera, captures the girl shouting “money” before all three defendants laugh while repeatedly beating and kicking Dr. Jenkins.

“He begs again and again until he can no longer speak,” the prosecutor said as he described the recording, which will be played to the jury.


“Then he groans and grunts as he is cruelly beaten and life is thrown out of him.”


He added: “Edwards says, ‘Stamp on the head, stamp on the head’. There are homophobic assaults. “[The youth] at last is heard saying, ‘Yes, I needed that’. “

“These defendants practiced sports.”

Sir. Enoch said the girl was filmed on CCTV cameras in the city center, where she met her co-defendant. After going to buy alcohol in the nearby Esso garage on Cathedral Road, the three entered the park via Slotsvejen’s entrance and sat down at Summerhouse Café, which was inside. Another man who will testify during the trial, Owen Hill, described being lured by the three at the back of the cafe with the hint of a sexual encounter with Strickland. But when he noticed that something was wrong, he left. The court was told that Dr. Jenkins, who was bisexual, was estranged from his wife and moved back to Cardiff from London about six years ago. Dr. Jenkins was open about his sexuality, Mr Enoch said, and usually went to the park at night “to look for sexual contact with other men”.

That evening, Dr. Jenkins reportedly finished work around noon.


Not a remorse of remorse has been shown by these defendants, who left (Dr. Jenkins) for death on their own, in the dark, in the park

Sir. Enoch The jury was shown pictures of a bloody and beaten Dr. Jenkins, taken while lying in the intensive care unit after the assault. All three defendants have agreed to be present during the attack, which took place just before midnight, and pleaded guilty to manslaughter and robbery of Dr. Jenkins and the assault of Mr. Williams.


Strickland’s defense team is expected to argue for reduced liability because he was drunk at the time, Mr Enoch said. Edwards and the girl, who were seen hugging each other after the attack, must claim they did not intend to seriously injure Mr Jenkins, the court was told.

The girl told police she was taking part in the attack for fear of the two men, a claim which Mr Enoch called “an insult to our intelligence”.

“Not a remorse of remorse has been shown by these defendants, who left (Dr. Jenkins) for death on their own, in the dark, in the park,” Mr. Enoch said.

“When they beat and kicked the praying and begging Dr. Jenkins over a period of 13 minutes or more, shouted at him and humiliated him, we do not think they intended to give him a black eye or bruise. There can only be one sensible conclusion, we say. ”

The trial continues.






























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