'Well-loved' psychiatrist Dr Gary Jenkins heard pleading for fatal attack in Bute Park to stop

• Warning: Article contains descriptions of violence that some readers may find upsetting

The jury in the trial of two men and a teenage girl accused of murdering a "well-loved" father-of-two have been played a 15-minute audio clip of the fatal attack.

Dr Gary Jenkins, 54, was "viciously attacked and tortured" in Bute Park, Cardiff, in the early hours of July 20 2021.

The consultant psychiatrist, who worked in Cardiff, died of his injuries at the University Hospital of Wales 16 days later.

Jason Edwards, 25, Lee Strickland, 36, and a 17-year-old girl who cannot be named for legal reasons, are on trial accused of his murder at Merthyr Crown Court.

Before the recording was played, members of the jury and those present in the courtroom were warned about its disturbing contents.

The recording, taken from a CCTV camera on the nearby Summerhouse Cafe, is of the minutes during which Dr Jenkins was "cruelly beaten, robbed, tortured and left for dead by these three defendants", prosecutor Dafydd Enoch told the court.

'Motivated by greed, homophobia and a straightforward liking of violence'

The assault, the prosecution has claimed, was motivated by "greed, homophobia and a straightforward liking of violence".

Beginning just before 1am, a man identified as Dr Jenkins can be heard repeatedly yelling "leave me alone" and "get off me".

A female voice, the teenage defendant, shouts "money" and "now", before homophobic slurs are used by one of the male defendants, believed to be Edwards.

Dr Jenkins makes repeated pleas for his life, asking "why" and "please, stop it".

The girl defendant can be heard saying "get down", "do it all over again", "do it", "hit him again".

One of the men said: "We're here to rob them."

A passer-by, Louis Williams, can be heard attempting to intervene before the three defendants turn and assault him.

Finally, the girl is heard saying: "Yeah, I needed that."

The court then heard a 999 call made by another man, Owain Williams, who told police he had heard someone being attacked in the park by "multiple men".

Video from the bodyworn camera of a police officer who attended the scene then shows him approaching Dr Jenkins, who is lying injured on the ground.

Mr Williams, who remained at the scene, was then seen talking in a distressed state to police officers, repeating: "What is going on?"

He adds: "I just want him to stay alive."

The court was told that Dr Jenkins, and a number of the witnesses, had visited the park that night "looking for sexual contact with other men".

The prosecution told the jury the three defendants were looking to rob "vulnerable gay men who were in the park for sex".

They had met that night on Queen Street before going to buy alcohol at the Esso garage on Cathedral Road and walking into the park via the Castle Street entrance.

CCTV cameras pick up their movements again after they leave the park, when Strickland went back to the garage, where he bought a bottle of whisky using Dr Jenkins' bank card.

When he is later stopped and searched by police the debit card is found in his pocket.

The teenage girl and Edwards emerge from the North Road entrance and hug each other twice over a number of minutes before they separate.

Edwards is then seen meeting up with Strickland back on the benches at the corner of Queen Street, where they embrace. Both men appear to be smiling and in good spirits.

Edwards is seen playing with a mobile phone believed to be the victim's. He is later believed to have thrown it in the back garden of a house in Canton while being chased on foot by a police officer.

All three have pleaded guilty to manslaughter, robbery and assault, but deny murder.

The trial continues.