Guilty plea over vicar killing
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Tuesday, 16, Oct 2007 02:42
A 24-year-old man has pleaded guilty to killing 59-year-old vicar Paul Bennett outside his church in south Wales.
Geraint Evans, of Trecynon, near Aberdare, admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility at Cardiff crown court this afternoon.
Father Bennett was found dead in the grounds of St Fagan's Church in Trecynon by his wife on March 14th this year.
In an earlier hearing Evans denied murdering the father of two.
Medical evidence presented at court revealed Evans was a paranoid schizophrenic. It was also heard in court that Evans regularly smoked cannabis and inhaled lighter fluid.
He was said to be obsessed with religion and regularly looked at satanic publications.
Evans came through the care system after being brought up in a broken-down family but he had never been treated for mental illness.
It was also revealed that Evans knew of Father Bennett although it was not clear if the vicar had previously met his killer.
Evans stabbed Father Bennett in the back as he tried to run away and then stabbed him through the heart as his wife Georgina came outside.
Paying tribute to his former colleague after his death, assistant bishop the Rt Reverend Dr David Yeoman of Llandaff, described Father Bennett as "an extremely hard-working, diligent priest".
A memorial fund set up in Father Bennett's name has already received more than £500,000 in donations.