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Wales Online
Wales Online
National
Philip Dewey

Bute Park murderers caught on camera before and after killing

Shocking footage has been released showing events leading up to and after the murder of Dr Gary Jenkins in a Cardiff park.

Dr Jenkins, 54, was the victim of a merciless and homophobic attack in Bute Park on July 20 last year at the hands of Jason Edwards, 25, Lee Strickland, 36, and Dionne Timms-Williams, 17.

Despite pleading with his attackers to stop beating, punching, and kicking him Dr Jenkins was assaulted until he was unconscious and left covered in blood and partially exposed. He died two weeks later on August 5 in hospital after sustaining a catalogue of injuries including a blunt force head injury.

Read more: Go here to read all the latest stories from the courts in Wales

Edwards, Strickland, and Timms-Williams were convicted of Dr Jenkins' murder at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court on Thursday.

During the trial the jury was shown a package of CCTV footage which depicted Dr Jenkins and the defendants before and after the attack. Audio of the attack captured on CCTV from the Summerhouse Cafe was also played to the court in which Dr Jenkins can be heard begging for help and his attackers hurling homophobic abuse at him. This footage has not been released by South Wales Police.

The footage released and able to be viewed at the top of this article is outlined below.

In the first sequence Dr Gary Jenkins can be seen enjoying a meal at the Calabrisella restaurant in Cowbridge Road East at 4.55pm on July 19 where he uses a Santander bank card to pay. He is later seen on CCTV in Sophia Close near Bute Park at 8.57pm.

The next piece of footage sees Timms-Williams' meeting with Edwards and Strickland on benches in Queen Street at 11.15pm and Strickland is seen clumsily giving her a hug.

Events are then moved to 1.20am on July 20, minutes after the murder, when Strickland is seen buying a bottle of whiskey from the Esso garage in Cathedral Road. He can be seen using two bank cards which belong to Dr Jenkins.

Lee Strickland using Gary Jenkins' bank card at the Esso Garage in Cathedral Road, Cardiff (South Wales Police)

At 1.29am Edwards and Timms-Williams are seen leaving Bute Park to the east and they exit onto North Road. They embrace before going their separate ways after Timms-Williams passes Edwards a phone belonging to Dr Jenkins. At 1.45am Edwards returns to the benches in Queen Street where he partakes in a celebratory hug with Strickland and is seen with a broad smile on his face.

The two murderers are then seen riding around Cardiff city centre on one bicycle, with Edwards pedalling, until they are spotted by police just outside Bute Park at 2.10am. Edwards makes off but Strickland is stopped by police and arrested. At 2.15am he is searched and police discover the red Santander card belonging to Dr Jenkins but they are unaware of the attack victim's identity at this stage.

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The next footage shows Timms-Williams being interviewed by police at Cardiff Bay custody suite on July 27. She is asked if she has disposed of the clothes she was wearing on the night of Dr Jenkins' murder but she answers "no comment" to all questions.

The last piece of footage shows Edwards being interviewed at Bridgend custody suite on July 21. He's lying with his head on the desk and is asked by the interviewing officer if he owns a mobile phone. He answers "No".

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