SUSPECTED MURDER VICTIM WAS CHILD KILLER
A MAN FOUND DEAD HAD TOLD NEIGHBOURS THAT HE’D BEEN RELEASED FROM PRISON SIX WEEKS EARLIER:
A man found dead in New Tredegar had previously been convicted of killing a 17-month-old baby boy in 1985.
A murder inquiry has been launched into the death of David Gaut, 54, in the council-owned flat where he had been living in the Valleys town.
A man also called David Gaut was jailed in 1985 for the murder of his lover’s child in Caerphilly. At the time he was 21 years old and would be 54 this year.
Neighbours in New Tredegar said the dead man’s middle name was Tracey – the same middle name as the man jailed 33-years ago for the murder of baby Chi Ming Shek – known as Marky.
Three men have been arrested on suspicion of the murder of Mr Gauk, who neighbours said had only been living in the town for six weeks.
A Ministry of Justice source last night confirmed the murdered man was the same individual who had recently been released after serving a life sentence for killing the toddler.
A Prison and Probation Service spokesperson said: “Thorough risk assessments are carried out before deciding on accommodation for offenders released on licence.
“There is an ongoing police investigation, so it would be in appropriate to comment further.”
Neighbours said that the dead man told them that he had recently been released from prison where had served 33 years behind bars, although two neighbours said he claimed he had been jailed for shooting a man by accident.
The murder of Chi Ming Shek on February 28, 1985, was described by a judge at the time as “the worst crime in the land”.
Sentencing, Mr Justice Caldfield said: “The person murdered was a defenceless little baby and on the jury’s finding you not only murdered that child but also tortured him.”
The man convicted in 1985, David Tracey Gaut, then lived in Buxton Court, Lansbury Park, Caerphilly, and did not give evidence at the trial.
The baby’s mother, Jane Pickthall, then 23, had been out drinking and left Gaut to look after her two young children.
She arrived home in Caerphilly and made love to Gaut – but the next day she found her son’s dead body under a chest of drawers.
A murder trial at Cardiff Crown Court heard Gaut tried to make the death look accidental.
But pathologist Dr Owen Williams said the baby’s injuries could have been caused by punching, kicking, falling, being thrown or a combination of these.
Prosecutor Aubrey Myerson QC said while the mum was out neighbours heard loud noises – including banging and crashes.
Miss Pickthall told a jury how she found Marky dead underneath a chest of drawers in his bedroom.
Mr Myerson said: “The killing did not arise from just one attack but from a series of assaults.”
Unemployed Gaut told police Marky had got out of the cot and claimed he smacked the child’s bottom but he fell down the stairs.
The baby died of multiple injuries including a broken arm, injured liver and spleen and a fractured skull. Gaut was convicted of murder and jailed for life in July 1985 – but would have been due to apply for parole since then.
Neighbours at Long Row, New Tredegar, said that Gaut told them that he had spent time in prison.
One woman said: “He has been living here for about six weeks but he’s not from here. He’s not local. He told us he’d been to prison for 33 years.”
A man at the same house said: “He first of all told us he was inside for a crime but he didn’t do it.
“He then said he had shot someone a long time ago but we knew that wasn’t true.
“Everyone knew he killed a baby and everyone was talking about it.”