Three convicted of murdering father-of-two Gary Jenkins in Cardiff park

Two men and a teenage girl have been found guilty of the homophobic murder of a father-of-two in Cardiff last summer.

Dr Gary Jenkins suffered multiple brain injuries when he was violently attacked in Bute Park in the city centre in the early hours of 20 July 2021.

The 54-year-old died at the University Hospital of Wales 16 days later, on 6 August.

Jason Edwards, 25, Lee Strickland, 36, and Dionne Timms-Williams, 17, admitted taking part in the assault and pleaded guilty to manslaughter and robbery.

They also pleaded guilty to assaulting another man who tried to protect the victim.

All three were convicted of murder following an eight-day trial at Merthyr Crown Court in south Wales.

‘Greed, homophobia and straight-up violence’

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The prosecution, led by Dafydd Enoch QC, said the attack had been “motivated by greed, homophobia and straight-up violence”.

The three defendants had been “in search of vulnerable gay men who were in the park for sex” to rob, the court heard.

Timms-Williams, 16 at the time, is believed not to have known her two co-defendants before that night.

After she met them in Queen Street and accepted a can of cider, she walked with them to the Esso garage in Cathedral Road where she paid for more cans of alcohol.

The trio then entered Bute Park and spent time drinking near the Summerhouse Cafe, opposite the Millennium Bridge.

A key part of the prosecution’s evidence was an audio recording of the attack taken from a CCTV camera inside the cafe.

Members of the jury and others in the courtroom were warned about the disturbing content before it was played.

‘Cruelly beaten, robbed, tortured and left for dead’

The clip gave an account of how Dr Jenkins was “cruelly beaten, robbed, tortured and left for dead”.

Just before 1am, a man identified as Dr Jenkins can be heard repeatedly yelling “leave me alone” and “get off me”.

Timms-Williams can be heard shouting “money” and “now”, before one of the male defendants uses homophobic slurs. The defendant is believed to be Edwards, who has a Liverpool accent.

Dr Jenkins repeatedly pleaded for his life, asking “why?” and saying “please, stop it”. His cries of pain become quieter before he is unable to speak.

Timms-Williams can be heard saying “get down”, “do it all over again”, “do it” and “hit him again”.

At one point another male voice says: “Stamp on his head. Stamp on his head too.”

Another adds “keep going” and “oh, let me stamp on him again”.

Witness describes attacker as ‘evil’ and ‘sadistic’

The attack lasted for 15 minutes, after which Timms-Williams can be heard saying: “Yeah, I needed that.”

A witness, Louis Williams, can be heard attempting to intervene throughout, before the three defendants turn and assault him. He told police he attempted to lie on top of Dr Jenkins to shield him from the repeated kicks and punches.

Mr Williams said the three defendants laughed and shouted as they carried out their attack, adding that he thought Timms-Williams was “evil” and “sadistic”.

“I couldn’t understand why they were hurting him so much,” he said.

Judge Daniel Williams said the trio will be sentenced at a later date.

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