A man has admitted stabbing his former partner during a knife attack in a park but is denying that he intended to kill her, a Welsh court has heard.
James McKenna is currently on trial after he attacked the woman as she walked her dog, leaving her with serious injuries. While McKenna has accepted that he injured her with a knife, he is contesting the more serious charge of attempted murder.
The case centres on what was going through McKenna’s mind at the time of the attack. Prosecutors will argue that the nature of the assault points to a clear intent to kill, while the defence is expected to push back on that interpretation.
The victim was going about her daily routine, walking her dog in the park, when the attack happened. The details paint a troubling picture of a woman targeted by someone she once had a relationship with, in a public space where she would have had every reason to feel safe.
Domestic violence cases involving weapons are treated with the utmost seriousness by courts in Wales and across the UK. An attempted murder conviction carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, which is why the distinction McKenna is drawing between the two charges matters so significantly to the outcome of this trial.
The trial is ongoing and live updates are being followed closely. A verdict has not yet been reached.