Witness’ account of fatal punch in car park incident
A TEENAGER has described the moment he saw a man swing a punch at a person’s head which caused his death.
Christopher George, 27, is accused of killing Carl Chinnock in an incident at Salt Lake car park in Porthcawl on June 23.
Mr Chinnock, 50, collapsed and fell into a coma as a result of being hit to the side of the head by George. He was taken to the Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend, but died as a result of his injuries two days later on June 25.
A trial at Cardiff Crown Court heard that George had been out drinking and taking drugs prior to the alleged assault and was described as “looking for a fight”.
The defendant, of Heol y Berllan, Pyle, denies manslaughter, claiming he acted in self-defence.
Giving evidence yesterday, witness Corey Griffiths said he was drinking at the Picton pub with friends Dylan Sykes and Tristan Packer when they were joined by George and his friend CJ Sharp. They later went to the Buccaneer pub, where there was a minor confrontation between George and another group.
Mr Griffiths, 19, said: “There was a group staring at us – [George] thought they were staring at us and we convinced him that they weren’t. There was a lot of people outside the pub as people were coming out, people thought people were staring at them but nothing happened.
“Something could have started from it if they were staring at each other and a fight started, so we thought it would be better to move them on. If they were drunk and staring at each other, a fight could have happened.”
As the group walked towards the Salt Lake car park they heard someone shouting, which caught George’s attention. At this time Mr Chinnock and a man called Jamie Williams were also in the car park.
Mr Griffiths said the defendant shouted back to see if anyone answered and walked ahead into the car park with Mr Sharp as he, Mr Sykes and Mr Packer walked behind.
The witness added: “As we walked further, we could see two figures of men. One was a bit larger than the other one. They were in their 40s. I think they were just talking to each other, standing in the middle on their own just talking. If they did say anything, I wouldn’t have heard it.
“[George], I saw him punch the man. We were 10-15 metres behind them.”
Prosecutor Ieuan Bennett asked Mr Griffiths if Mr Chinnock did or said anything.
He replied: “Not that I saw, no. He was talking to the other man who was there originally. The only reason I can think of, [George] must have thought he was shouting at him, there’s no other reason really that I can see.
“I was right behind them and it was dark. All I seen was he walked up to the other man, dropped his hand, swung at him and hit him around the face area. I’m pretty sure it was the right hand. It looked like it was around his jaw but I didn’t see where he hit him. He fell straight to the floor. He looked as if he hit his head but I’m not sure.”
Following the alleged assault, Mr Griffiths said George and Mr Sharp ran off towards Griffin Park, while he, Mr Sykes and Mr Packer remained at the scene and tried to assist Mr Chinnock.
They had to convince Mr Williams, who was heavily intoxicated, to help them as he was scared he would also be attacked.
The witness said: “Dylan was on the phone to the ambulance. They told us to do CPR and get a defibrillator from the fire station. We were looking for a heartbeat and pulse and then they told us to do CPR. Dylan and Tristan were swapping about doing it. I think the ambulance got there before we used the defibrillator.
“We were trying to wake [Mr Chinnock] up and see what [Mr Williams] was saying but we couldn’t understand him.”
The trial continues.