Chat – 25 July 2019

They’d

learned

the

truth of

hiscrime

MONSTER

DEATH OF A

Could

thisbea

vigilante

killing..?

BLOODY REVENGE

A

s police officers

opened the door to

the flat, they were

confronted by

a gruesome scene.

A 54-year-old

man was dead in his home in

New Tredegar, South Wales.

His body was covered in

wounds, including his neck,

skull and both eyes.

He’d been brutally stabbed

176 times, and his fingernails

had been cut off.

But the victim was no

stranger to brutality himself.

His name was David Gaut

• and back in 1995, aged 21,
  he’d murdered his girlfriend’s
  15-month-old son while he
  was babysitting.
  The baby had died of
  multiple injuries, including a
  broken arm, injured liver and
  spleen and a fractured skull.
  Though Gaut had tried to
  make it look like an accident,
  at Cardiff Crown Court,
  he was convicted of the

toddler’s murder and given

a life sentence.

He was released on parole in

November 2017, having served

around 32 years in prison.

Then, in June last year, Gaut

had moved into a flat in New

Tredegar, to start a new life.

His mother

Phyllis, 77, said

adjusting to life

on the outside

was hard for him.

He struggled

with technology

that hadn’t

existed before

his jail term,

felt the world

had moved on

while he was inside.

Getting to know his new

neighbours, Gaut was only

partially honest with them.

While he admitted that he’d

not long been released from

prison, he said he’d killed

a soldier, instead of a child.

Now, just two

months after Gaut had moved

in, following a tip-off, the police

made the shocking discovery

at his flat. Gaut was dead.

Immediately, they suspected

vigilantes of his murder. It

seemed likely that someone

had discovered the true nature

of Gaut’s crime

and sought to

punish him.

It didn’t take

long for the

police to start

making arrests.

Ieuan Harley,

23, Darran

Evesham, 47, and

Gaut’s neighbour

David Osborne,

51, were arrested.

They all denied any

involvement in the slaying,

pleading their innocence.

The trial began this January,

at Newport Crown Court.

The court heard that Gaut

was stabbed 150

times before he died,

and another 26 times

• with a screwdriver


• after his death.
  He was mutilated
  so badly that photos
  of his injuries were
  kept from the jury.
  In the witness
  box, Osborne’s
  neighbour told the
  court that he and
  his partner had
  found David Gaut’s
  name online and
  learned the truth of his crime.
  Shocked by the discovery,
  they told other residents –
  including Osborne and Harley


• that Gaut had killed a child.
  The prosecution argued
  that, just hours later, Gaut was
  lured to Osborne’s apartment,
  where Harley attacked him.
  They claimed that the three

14

HARLEY:

Bloodied clothes

OSBORNE:

Gaut’s neighbour

EVESHAM:

Lack of evidence