Two men who murdered a beloved dad laughed and joked after a jury found them guilty of a brutal attack.
Jason Edwards, Lee Strickland and Dionne Timms-Williams were today found guilty of murdering Dr Gary Jenkins in a Cardiff park last year.
The 54-year-old was set upon by Edwards, Strickland and Timms-Williams on July 10.
READ MORE: Dad-of-two murdered in homophobic park attack by 'cruel' gang of three
Despite Dr Jenkins pleading for his life during the brutal 15 minute attack, he was left for dead covered in blood.
According to our sister site Wales Online, which covered the trial live, Edwards, who is from Liverpool, and Strickland, from Cardiff, were taken down to the cells after a judge saw them laughing just after the verdict was returned.
The jury took only four hours to reach a guilty verdict on all three defendants.
Earlier in the trial they heard audio of the attack, carried out by Edwards, 25, Strickland, 36, and Timms-Williams, 17, in which Dr Jenkins pleaded for help and for his attacks to “Leave me alone” but his cries were left unheeded.
After 15 minutes of being savagely beaten by the group, he was left for dead.
He was taken to hospital but died two weeks later on August 5.
In a statement released after the verdict was reached, Dr Jenkin's family paid tribute to him and thanked two witnesses who intervened to try to save his life.
Their statement said: “Gary was such a kind soul who would never hurt anyone. He was an incredibly generous and creative man who had only good intentions.
"Gary’s private life, being put on display through a Crown Court trial has only intensified the impact of this event on our family, friends and colleagues.
"It has been horrible to have to listen to the details of what happened.
"Gary's untimely death has also had an impact on his patients. Gary was one of the most humane, kind, compassionate doctors one could ever come across.
"He spent most of his working life in the NHS.
"We cannot bring Gary back. There are no winners in this case, only losers but as a family we are relieved that justice is done.
"As a family we would like to thank both the police for their efforts in bringing justice and the two main witnesses in this trial, Mr Hill and Mr Williams for their extraordinary bravery and efforts to help Gary.
"They are Good Samaritans and we are eternally grateful to them and will never forget what they did to help.”
Edwards, Strickland and Timms-Williams were arrested and later pleaded guilty to manslaughter, robbery and assaulting a man who tried to intervene.
The trial heard Dr Jenkins had gone to Bute Park in order to have sexual encounters with other men but he was targeted by the group because of his sexuality and subjected to an unmerciful and sustained attack.
The Crown Prosecution Service has since apologised for statements made in court about this aspect of the case.
In his opening remarks to the jury, barrister Dafydd Enoch QC had said that Dr Jenkins "sexual predilections were to be his undoing" and he had "rendered himself hopelessly vulnerable".
Speaking after the jury returned a guilty verdict on Thursday afternoon, a spokesperson for the CPS said: "The only people responsible for this horrific crime were those convicted today by the jury. The suggestion that Dr Jenkins was in any way to blame is completely wrong.
"We apologise for inappropriate and insensitive remarks made during the opening statement."
During the murder, which was caught on CCTV from the Summerhouse Cafe, Dr Jenkins can be heard shouting: “Argh… I haven’t got any money… Argh… Please help me…. What are you doing?”
He also shouts: “Stop it, stop it (Repeated)... Argh that was…. Argh get off me, leave me alone.”
During the assault, Edwards could be heard shouting: “Stamp his head, stamp his head now, stamp his head bro.” and the doctor is subjected to homophobic abuse.”
Timms-Williams could also be heard shouting for money and saying: “F****** c***, I don’t give a f***.”
At the end of the attack, she was heard saying: “Yeah I needed that.”
Addressing the jury at the start of the trial, prosecutor Dafydd Enoch said: “On July 20 last year in the early hours of the morning Dr Jenkins was in Bute Park in Cardiff where he was viciously beaten, robbed, tortured and left for dead by these three defendants in the dock.
“It was a beating apparently motivated by greed, homophobia, and a straightforward liking of violence.”
The jury returned a verdict of guilty for all three defendants, after which Judge Daniel Williams revoked a reporting restriction preventing the naming of Timms-Williams, who had remained anonymous throughout the trial.
Addressing the jury, Judge Williams said: “Any available sentence for someone convicted of murder is life imprisonment. The court must set a minimum period of imprisonment before a defendant becomes eligible for the parole board to consider release.”
He said in Edwards and Strickland’s case, the likely minimum period would be 30 years and in Timms-Williams’ case 12-years, but this would be adjusted up or down depending on aggravating and mitigating features.
The sentencing of Edwards, Strickland and Timms-Williams has been adjourned until March 25.
