Accused says fatal punch was act of ‘self defence’
A MAN accused of killing someone with a single punch says he acted in self defence – and is not violent person especially having witnessed the murder of his own brother
Christopher George, 27, denies the manslaughter of Carl Chinnock, 50, who died two days after being struck in the head in a Portchawl car park on June 23.
A trial at Cardiff Crown Court was told George had been acting aggressivelty while out drinking with a group of friends, and had attacked Mr Chinnock for no reason.
As a result of the punch, Mr Chinnock fell into a coma and was taken to the Princess of Wales hospital in Bridgend where he died on June 25.
Read more: Go here to read all the latest stories from the courts in Wales
The defendant, of Heol y Berllan, Pyle, said he became “scared” after Mr Chinniock “edged towards him” and told him to “F*** off ”, which caused him to punch him to the left cheek.
An earlier hearing heard George told police in his interview following his arrest he had witnessed the murder of his brother and had seen his mother being brutally attacked.
He said: “I have seen my mother’s nose get bitten off her face – I’m not a violent person, I’m not.”
George added: “I watched my brother get murdered. That’s not me. It’s really not.”
Giving evidence at his trial yesterday, the defendant told the court he was a father-of-three and had worked as a roofer until the Covid-19 pandemic hit.
On the night of June 23, he and friend CJ Sharp were drinking in Porthcawl town centre and met up with acquaintances Dylan Sykes, Trystan Packer and Corey Griffiths in the Picton pub.
During the course of the night, George said he had been drinking pints of Heineken and Stella lager, and had taken a “key of cocaine” offered to him by Mr Sykes.
At around 11.30pm, George said he and Mr Sharp were looking to get a taxi back home to Pyle and walked through the Salt Lake car park where they encountered Mr Chinnock and Jamie Williams.
Describing the incident that followed, the defendant said: “I heard two men arguing. It was dark.
Defence barrister John Caudle asked: “Did you intend to do anything to those men?”
George said: “No, I asked ‘Is everything ok’. One of them ran off and the other one turned to me and said ‘F*** off’ he did. He edged towards me as he said it and came towards me. He seemed angry his arms came up by his sides and he shouted ‘F*** off’. I thought he was going to punch me.” Mr Caudle said: “What did you do?” The defendant said: “Yes, I punched him on the cheek (with) my right hand. He was edging towards me with his hands up.
“He fell to the floor. He just went down he did. He started snoring. Dylan picked him up, called for Trystan and then he dropped him. Then he stopped snoring and they just all came around him. I was a bit nervous, and asked if everything was ok. Dylan said: ‘Go, leave’, I said: ‘Is everything ok’ and he said he was going to ring an ambulance. I went to the taxi, me and CJ. I didn’t leave straight away.”
Before the fatal incident, George was seen on CCTV and appeared to be animated when speaking to a group of people outside the Buccaneer pub.
It was claimed by prosecutor Ieuan Bennett that George was “looking for a fight” and had taken offence when a member of the group looked at him.
When asked about this, the defendant said: “Yeah I went outside to have a fag and spoke to someone about a lighter. I could tell from their accents they were from Merthyr and they knew my brother. We were just talking about my brother”
Mr Caudle said: “It’s been suggested you were aggressive and spoling for a fight.”
George replied: “Not at all, definitely not.”
In agreed facts read out to the jury, Mr Bennett said Mr Chinnock had a number of previous convictions for numerous assaults, affray and possession of a knife.
The trial continues.