Fatal stabbing 'was provoked' (From Campaign Series)

Fatal stabbing 'was provoked'

4:30pm Wednesday 1st July 2009

• Print
• Email
• Share

A PENYRHEOL man has been jailed for three years after pleading guilty to the manslaughter of a 20-year-old man.

Bryan Evans, 40, of Brynglas, Penyrheol, Caerphilly, pleaded guilty to manslaughter by reason of provocation.

The victim Tom Smith, 20, had stolen a motorbike from one of Evans' sons and had also turned up at their home with a baseball bat, Cardiff Crown Court was told.

Evans was later also attacked by Mr Smith with the bat as he tried to resolve the dispute and responded by stabbing him in the chest with a kitchen knife.

Peter Murphy QC, prosecuting, said there had been a series of incidents relating to the motorbike Mr Smith had stolen from Christopher Evans four days earlier.

"Matters rapidly became more hostile, exacerbated by his denial in the bike's disappearance,'' Mr Murphy said.

On the night of the stabbing, he said, Mr Smith's girlfriend, Claire Stone, had texted Evans to tell him two of his sons had been waiting outside her house brandishing golf clubs, waiting for Mr Smith to arrive.

Mr Murphy said Evans then went round to her home in Heol Tir Gibbon, Penyrheol, to try to sort matters out through her in a "calm and relaxed way''.

When Evans was at the house Mr Smith arrived and, while witness accounts of what happened next vary, Mr Murphy said, Evans received head and back injuries from a baseball bat and the younger man suffered a stab wound to the heart.

John Charles Rees QC, defending, read out a letter Evans had written to the judge expressing his remorse.

In it, Evans said: "I deeply regret my actions on 29 November, 2008, and think about Tom and his family every single day."

The letter added: "I will never forget the damage I've caused to everyone including my own family."

Mr Rees added that Evans had previously been commended for rescuing four children from a house fire in Caerphilly.

Sentencing, the Recorder of Cardiff Nicholas Cooke QC, jailing Evans for three years, said: "I agree with the comment it is not much for a life, but the reality is the circumstances were as they were."

Speaking after the sentencing, Mr Smith's mother Vivian said the family was devastated with the length of the jail term.

• Print
• Email
• Share