The heir to a £50,000,000 country estate has been found guilty of grievous bodily harm after CCTV showed him punching a pub-goer, leaving the man with a broken leg in two places.
Jordan Adlard Rogers, 38, threw the punch during a row at a wedding reception in Porthleven, Cornwall, on July 13, 2024. The 13-second clip shows attendees dancing in the busy pub before Adlard Rogers turns towards Sebastian Winzar and punches him with force.
Mr Winzar fell to the floor as attendees rushed to his aid, while others continued to dance and Adlard Rogers walked away. The victim was left needing surgery following the incident.
Court Conviction and Sentencing Warning
The footage was shown to a jury at Truro Crown Court, where Adlard Rogers was found guilty of grievous bodily harm. He now faces prison after the jury unanimously convicted him after deliberating for less than two hours on October 30.
Judge Simon Carr warned him that all sentencing options remained open, including immediate custody, and told him: 'You need to prepare yourself for that.'
The court heard during the trial that Mr Winzar was out with friends when the two men became embroiled in a confrontation. Mr Winzar claimed Adlard Rogers became aggressive towards him, shouting and throwing his arms around. Asked what happened next, he replied: 'Waking up in a chair with my leg broken.'
Injuries and Claims of Self-Defence
The court heard Mr Winzar suffered two fractures to his left leg, a swollen lip and swelling to the back of his head. He was taken to hospital, where his leg was put in plaster, before he underwent surgery on July 22.
Adlard Rogers claimed he was acting in self-defence after being threatened and headbutted by Mr Winzar. Mr Winzar denied being aggressive and insisted the heir had wanted to lure him outside to beat him up.
Giving evidence, Adlard Rogers insisted he had been repeatedly threatened by Mr Winzar while attending the wedding celebration. Explaining the punch, he said: 'I remember his head came towards me. I thought he was going to take another swipe at me so I defended myself.'
Background of the Estate Heir
Adlard Rogers was arrested the following evening after approaching an officer investigating the incident. In a prepared statement to police, he admitted throwing a punch but said he had acted to protect himself. Jurors rejected his account and found him guilty.
Adlard Rogers previously made headlines in 2019 after inheriting his family's historic home. He inherited his position at the 1,536-acre Penrose Estate in Cornwall after a DNA test confirmed he was the son of its previous heir, Charles Rogers, who died from a drug overdose.
The former care worker had spent decades trying to prove his parentage before his life was transformed by the inheritance in 2019. Charles had repeatedly declined to take a DNA test before dying from a drug overdose in August 2019, aged 62. A test carried out after his death confirmed the family connection, leaving Adlard Rogers as the sole heir after Charles' mother and brother had also died.
Adlard Rogers subsequently gave up his job as a community support worker and moved into the family's mansion. The Rogers family had gifted the estate to the National Trust in 1974 in exchange for a 1,000-year lease allowing them to continue living there. An inquest later heard Charles had become so consumed by drug addiction that he was sleeping in his car rather than his farmhouse, despite receiving a substantial allowance from a family trust.
Following his inheritance, Adlard Rogers said he hoped to use his newfound privilege to help local communities. He will be sentenced on December 11.
