'I needed that': Chilling words of jailed girl, 17, who murdered doctor in homophobic park attack

Two men and a teenage girl have been jailed for a combined total of 84 years for the homophobic murder of a respected consultant psychiatrist.

Dionne Timms-Williams, was 16 when she, Jason Edwards, 25 and Lee Strickland, 36, left Dr Gary Jenkins, 54, with multiple brain injuries after punching and kicking him in Bute Park in Cardiff in the early hours of 20 July last year.

Seconds after the attack Timms-Williams was heard saying: “Yeah, I needed that.”

Dr Jenkins, described as “kind” and “compassionate”, died 16 days later from his injuries at the University Hospital of Wales on 5 August.

Edwards, Strickland, and Timms-Williams admitted taking part in the assault and pleaded guilty to manslaughter and robbery.

But a jury convicted all three of murder following an eight-day trial at Merthyr Crown Court in south Wales.

They also assaulted another man who tried to protect Dr Jenkins by lying on top of him to shield him from the kicks and punches.

On Friday they were jailed for life, with Edwards and Strickland being told they will serve a minimum of 33 years.

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Timms-Williams, who is now 17, has been ordered to serve a minimum of 18 years.

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

Dr Jenkins had been married and had two daughters living in London. He separated from his wife and moved back to his home city of Cardiff around six years before his death and became openly bisexual.

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

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

After meeting them in Queen Street and accepting a can of cider, she walked with them to a garage where she paid for more alcohol, before the trio went and sat outside a nearby cafe.

The prosecution showed shocking audio recording from a CCTV camera located inside the cafe, showing how Dr Jenkins was “cruelly beaten, robbed, tortured and left for dead”.

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 – Timms-Williams – shouts “Money” and “Now”, before homophobic slurs are used by one of the male defendants, believed to be Edwards, who has a Liverpool accent.

Dr Jenkins makes repeated pleas for his life, asking “Why?” and saying “Please, stop it”.

His moans of pain become quieter before he is unable to speak anymore.

Timms-Williams can be heard saying “Get down”, “Do it all over again”, “Do it” and “Hit him again”.

Another male voice at one point says: “Stamp on his head. Stamp on his head too.”

Another says “Keep going” and “Oh, let me stamp on him again”.

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

Witness Louis Williams can be heard throughout, attempting to intervene, before the three defendants turn and assault him.

He told police that 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 the violence, and he thought Timms-Williams was “evil” and “sadistic”.

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

Following the attack, Strickland could be seen on CCTV footage heading back to the Esso garage where he bought a bottle of whiskey using Dr Jenkins’ Santander debit card.

Timms-Williams and Edwards emerged from the North Road entrance and hugged and kissed each other for a number of minutes before they separated.

Edwards is seen walking back into the city centre and meeting up with Strickland, where they embrace and both appear to be smiling.

Dr Jenkins’ blood was later found on one of Edwards’ black Fila trainers.

When questioned by police, Edwards denied being in Bute Park that night but did say he thought of it as a “dirty park” because gay men congregate there.

Strickland, who was stopped by plain clothes police the same night, was found to have cut knuckles and his blood was discovered inside the pocket of Dr Jenkins’ jeans.

The clothes worn by Timms-Williams that night were never found, with the prosecution claiming she was “forensically aware” and saying she intentionally got rid of them to avoid DNA evidence being found.

In a prepared statement the teenager gave to police, she said she only joined in with the attack because she had been scared of the two men.

Her defence team also claimed she was not homophobic and that she had been in a same-sex relationship.

Following the verdict, Mr Enoch told the jury that a piece of evidence that had not been put before them was a statement from Strickland’s ex-girlfriend saying he had targeted gay men in the park regularly.

He thanked Dr Jenkins’ family for their “consummate dignity” throughout the process.

Judge Williams sent both Edwards and Strickland out of the dock for laughing and joking, behaviour which he said they had been displaying throughout the trial, before sending Timms-Williams down.