Tredegar man Ieuan Harley guilty of murdering child killer David Gaut

Ieuan Harley, 23, murdered David Gaut after discovering he had been jailed for killing a 15-month-old boy in 1985.

A jury found the victim's next-door neighbour David Osborne, 51, not guilty of murder or manslaughter after he was accused of taking part in the killing.

(This screwdriver was used to inflict further wounds to David Gaut, after he had died)

Harley, of Punch House Flats, Morgan Street, Tredegar, and Darran Evesham, 47, of Powell's Terrace, New Tredegar, were also found guilty of perverting the course of justice.

This was a charge Osborne, of Long Row, New Tredegar, had admitted before the trial, after attempting to dispose of evidence of the killing in New Tredegar.

During the trial, Newport Crown Court heard Mr Gaut was killed on the night of August 2 last year after his neighbours discovered he had served 32 years in jail for killing toddler Chi Ming Shek in Caerphilly.

(The blood-stained contents of one of two carrier bags recovered from a New Tredegar riverbank, following David Gaut’s death)

(Investigators believe one of the three knives found on the kitchen draining board in David Osbourne’s home had been used in the fatal attack) 

Prosecutor Ben Douglas-Jones QC alleged he was lured to neighbour Osborne's flat before being attacked with at least two knives, before being stabbed at least 150 times while he was still alive and another 26 times after his death, and his fingernails were also cut off.

At least one knife was said to have been used to kill Mr Gaut and a screwdriver was later used to stab his dead body, leaving him with injuries that were so gruesome pictures were deliberately kept away from the jury.

The murder weapon had been thrust into Mr Gaut with such force that part of it was found broken off in his sternum.

A Peugeot car was set on fire hours after the killing, which Evesham later told a BBC reporter had contained bloodied sheets from the killing, which he claimed had been committed by "three spice addicts".

Police later recovered heavily blood-stained clothing from a riverbank close to where Osborne and Evesham were caught on CCTV walking.

Bloodied towels and sheets were found inside a black Sports Direct bag and nearby was a B&M Bargains bag which contained blood-stained underwear, socks, a white T-shirt and grey Everlast tracksuit bottoms.

Mr Gaut had moved into his block of flats six weeks before his death, telling neighbours he had been released from prison after serving 33 years for killing a soldier.

The three were remanded in custody ahead of their sentencing on March 25.