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| Man, 24, guilty of vicar killing | Man, 24, guilty of vicar killing |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| A 24-year-old man has pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of a vicar on the grounds of diminished responsibility. | A 24-year-old man has pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of a vicar on the grounds of diminished responsibility. |
| Geraint Evans of Trecynon, near Aberdare, repeatedly stabbed Father Paul Bennett on 14 March in the grounds of St Fagan's Church, Trecynon. | Geraint Evans of Trecynon, near Aberdare, repeatedly stabbed Father Paul Bennett on 14 March in the grounds of St Fagan's Church, Trecynon. |
| Father Bennett, 59, a married father of two, was attacked yards from the Trecynon church in front of his wife. | Father Bennett, 59, a married father of two, was attacked yards from the Trecynon church in front of his wife. |
| Evans had previous pleaded not guilty to murder. His plea was accepted by the prosecution at Cardiff Crown Court. | Evans had previous pleaded not guilty to murder. His plea was accepted by the prosecution at Cardiff Crown Court. |
| John Jenkins QC, prosecuting, told the court that Father Paul was attacked within two minutes of stepping outside to put the rubbish out. | |
| "It is apparent he immediately ran away from the direction of the front door in the direction of the gate that leads to the churchyard," he said. | |
| Father Paul Bennet had been a vicar for 22 year, five in Aberdare | Father Paul Bennet had been a vicar for 22 year, five in Aberdare |
| "He probably did that to protect his family. His son Nigel, who was in the living room, saw his father running that way with the defendant in pursuit. | |
| "The defendant stabbed him in the back while he was trying to run away. He had six stab wounds in his back." | |
| Hearing screams, Father Bennett's wife, Georgina, went outside to see her husband on his back with Evans on top of him stabbing him. | |
| As she tried to pull him off, Evans stabbed the vicar forcibly through the heart. | |
| The court heard that she then went back inside to dial 999 and Evans sat on a bench. | |
| When she came back out of the house with a kitchen knife, Evans told her to go back inside as he did not want to hurt her or her son. | |
| "I've done what I had to do," he told her. | |
| 'I stabbed him through the heart, I stabbed him through the eye' Evans talking to Father Bennett's wife | |
| Mr Jenkins said Evans scattered 10 CDs on the driveway, saying: "It's on there, he wouldn't listen, it's all on the tapes." | |
| He then started swearing and speaking of God and the devil saying to Mrs Bennett that he had spoken to her husband previously. | |
| "He also spoke to her of the attack, saying, 'I stabbed him through the heart, I stabbed him through the eye'," the prosecution continued. | |
| "In a gloating voice, he said 'You have to forgive me now'." | |
| Pseudonym 'Jack Blade' | |
| The court heard that Evans, who suffers from paranoid schizophrenia, was obsessed with both God and the devil and was fixated with religion. | |
| As well as smoking cannabis, he inhaled lighter fluid on a daily basis, the hearing was told. | As well as smoking cannabis, he inhaled lighter fluid on a daily basis, the hearing was told. |
| Evans, who had been in care as a teenager and had been in a young offenders institute, was a user of satanic websites and wrote under the pseudonym of Jack Blade. | Evans, who had been in care as a teenager and had been in a young offenders institute, was a user of satanic websites and wrote under the pseudonym of Jack Blade. |
| He was living in a flat close to the vicarage where Father Bennett, who was profoundly deaf, lived with his wife. | He was living in a flat close to the vicarage where Father Bennett, who was profoundly deaf, lived with his wife. |
| Police were called to the scene at 1450 GMT on 14 March and found Father Bennett dead. | Police were called to the scene at 1450 GMT on 14 March and found Father Bennett dead. |
| A popular vicar with three churches under this stewardship, he was described as being at the "very centre of his community". | A popular vicar with three churches under this stewardship, he was described as being at the "very centre of his community". |
| During his funeral in April, assistant bishop of Llandaff, the Right Reverend David Yeoman, described Father Bennett as relaxed and often humorous person and a "committed and dedicated priest". | During his funeral in April, assistant bishop of Llandaff, the Right Reverend David Yeoman, described Father Bennett as relaxed and often humorous person and a "committed and dedicated priest". |