A woman pleaded for an ambulance after being repeatedly stabbed by her ex-partner in a park in Carmarthen, a court has heard. On day two of the trial in which James McKenna stands accused of attempting to murder Joanne Sidaway, the jury heard the chaotic moments following the incident in Carmarthen Park on January 29.
Key moments from Swansea Crown Court
The defendant and victim were former partners who separated in November last year, and Miss Sidaway lived on the edge of Carmarthen Park where she regularly walked her dog. McKenna, 57, admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent and possessing a knife in a public place but denied trying to kill his ex.
On the morning of January 29 this year the defendant packed a large kitchen knife some 30cm in length into a rucksack and walked to the park. At just after 4pm a fellow dog walker and neighbour of Miss Sidaway, Susan Edwards, heard "very high-pitched screams" coming from bushes near the Picton Terrace entrance. Mrs Edwards then saw a man "jump out" of the bushes and run past her.
Mrs Edwards told the jury she saw her friend bleeding from wounds, and said she told her: "Sue, I have been stabbed." Miss Sidaway called 999 following the incident saying: "I have been stabbed, I have been stabbed, I have just been stabbed by my ex-partner... Please, please bring an ambulance… his name in James John McKenna, he has been stalking me."
Details of the attack
Miss Sidaway told a police officer that she was attacked within moments of walking into the park, and said the attack was so quick she did not have time to blow the whistle she wore around her neck. She suffered four penetrating wounds to the left side of her chest both above and below her breast, penetrating wounds to her upper arm, and "defensive" type wounds to her hands.
Police subsequently recovered a blood-stained knife from allotments near Carmarthen Park which had the defendant's fingerprints on the handle. McKenna was arrested on February 2 after attending hospital in Aberystwyth with frostbite to his feet. He gave officers a prepared statement in which he accepted having a knife and accepted being responsible for the injuries to Miss Sidaway but denied trying to kill her.
James John McKenna, of Bro Hedydd, Carmarthen, denies attempted murder and the trial continues.
