Vigilante who lured a child killer to an apartment before stabbing him over 150 times is jailed for life
A 23-year-old man, dubbed a vigilante, was handed at least 24 years of prison sentence for the "horrific and brutal" murder of a child killer who had recently been freed from prison after serving his sentence.
Reports state that the suspect, identified as Ieuan Harley from South Wales, stabbed 54-year-old David Gaut more than 150 times after discovering that he had been imprisoned for 32 years for killing his girlfriend's 15-month-old baby, known as Marky, in 1985, according to the Daily Mail.
Harley reportedly wanted to "punish" Gaut, who had murdered his girlfriend's baby, and "chop him up and put him down the plughole." Reports state that Harley had not even been born when Gaut had committed the crime.
The 23-year-old was sentenced at Newport Crown Court on Monday as Gaut's 77-year-old mother, Phyllis Gaut, who was present in the court said: "To some David was a monster but he was my son and I loved him." Reports state that Harley did not show any emotion when he was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 24 years. He was also sentenced to an additional four years for perverting the course of justice. His additional years would reportedly run concurrently.
Judge Mr Justice Clive Lewis, while announcing the verdict, told Harley: "I am sure that you Ieuan Harley killed David Gaut because you found out that he had killed a child and you decided he should be made to suffer. Quite simply what you did was murder. You carried out a brutal and savage killing of another person." He added that the murder showed Harley's "cruel and sadistic behavior."
Reports state that Gaut was led to a flat by Harley and his friends to watch a DVD just six months after he had been released from prison. Harley had known about Gaut's crime for only 20 minutes when he stabbed him 150 times while he was alive and an additional 26 times after he was dead.
Harvey also removed Gaut's fingernails in the gruesome attack. The court, during a trial, heard Harvey was previously jailed after attacking a man in a mobility wheelchair after wrongly accusing him of being a pedophile, according to reports.
Harley's friends 51-year-old David Osbourne and 47-year-old Darren Evesham were all accused of murdering Gaut in August last year. However, a jury eventually cleared Osbourne and Evesham of murder but they were both charged with perversion of course as they helped Harley in disposing of Gaut's body.
"My son David was brutally murdered by a vigilante," Gaut's mother told the court. "To some David was a monster but he was my son and I loved him. He died fighting for his life after being lured to his death by people he believed were his friends, people he trusted.
"This man was no better than David, he too was a killer. David paid the price for what he did, spending 30 years in prison for what he did to Marky. David was not a threat to anyone. He was questioning where he fitted in society after spending so long in prison. He struggled with technology, the world had moved on while he was in jail."
"We have tried to come to terms with what David did. I feel that David has been convicted all over again. His murder has left a huge void in my life. I spoke to David every day and I miss him," she said, according to the Daily Mail.
The court heard that the three men involved in the incident dragged Gaut's body to his flat next door before attempting to cover their tracks. However, when they were with another of their's Michael Lewis later that day, Lewis alerted the authorities.
Prosecutor Ben Douglas-Jones said: "Later that night in Osbourne's flat Mr Lewis was in a chair with a blanket over him, it appeared to all those present he was asleep. It caused the three others to relax, they thought they were in private but Mr Lewis could hear and did hear what they were saying. He heard them say that Harley had killed Dai because he had murdered a child. He heard Harley say he had stabbed Mr Gaut in the neck. They said they had carried him back into his flat but they would have to do something because he was starting to smell."