Pensioner attacked trio with meat cleaver and knife in Spanish bar, court told

Martin Leonard, of Crossways, has denied the charges - alleged to have taken place nearly three years ago in a bar at the Playa de Las Americas resort - although he has admitted causing bodily harm to two British ex-pats.

The court heard how witnesses described Leonard, 65, brandishing a seven-inch kitchen knife and a 13 inch meat cleaver at the Next Door Bar in Malibu Park on January 16, 2012.

The defendant, who has been held on remand on the island since his arrest a day after the incident, was a regular winter visitor and had an apartment at the park.

Prosecutors said Leonard became embroiled in a heated argument with ex-pat Andrew Stewart and his wife Wendy.

According to witnesses, Leonard was asked to leave the premises after the altercation but returned minutes later, brandishing a 7” kitchen knife and a 13” meat cleaver. Without warning, he lashed out wildly at Mr Stewart, slashing him in the head and left shoulder.

Doctors said Mr Stewart suffered a deep wound from the bridge of his nose to his hair line and needed 15 to 20 stitches.

His wife sustained serious facial injuries as she tried to protect her husband and required 21 stitches to sew her ear back on after it was nearly completely sliced off by a blow with the cleaver.

Doctors told the court that the ear was 'hanging on by the skin' when she was admitted to hospital for urgent treatment.

A third person, Lynn Gilliard, who was working in the bar that night, had tendons severed in three fingers of her right hand as she stepped in to protect Wendy.

The court heard that Leonard was eventually restrained by father-of-two Paul Matthews, a former car salesman from Stourbridge who was on holiday in Tenerife at the time.

Speaking via videolink from a magistrates' court in England, Mr Matthews described how he reacted instinctively and risked his own life to disarm Leonard.

“I was out on the terrace having a cigarette when I heard shouts and screaming. I naturally ran inside and saw Martin Leonard holding a meat cleaver in one hand and what looked like a hunting knife in the other.

“There were several people in front of him bleeding profusely. There was general mayhem in the bar. I decided to grab both his arms and used my knee to push him to the floor. I smashed his arms against the ground to release the knives. I picked them up and threw them behind the bar as there was nobody there and it was the safest place for them. Then I dragged Martin outside.

“I was so angry and frustrated that I started to punch him, not just restrain him. I was enraged at such a horrific scene. Eventually someone pulled me off.”

The court also heard Mr Matthews said in a police statement that, in his judgement, 'the defendant intended to kill someone and would have gone all the way if he had not been stopped'.

Leonard appeared in court wearing a blue tracksuit top, checked shirt and black trousers and walked with the aid of a crutch.

His brother and sister-in-law were the only family members in court for the trial and were given a brief opportunity to talk to him at the end of the day's proceedings.

A panel of three trial judges, chaired by the president of the Tenerife Criminal Court, Joaquín Astor, listened attentively throughout the five-hour session as the three victims of the ferocious attack narrated how events had unfolded on the night.

Andrew Stewart described how he was having a quiet drink on his night off work with his wife when Leonard, who was a complete stranger to the couple, approached them and engaged in conversation.

Mr Steward said: “When he discovered I ran a bar in the Puerto Colón area he became abusive and accused me of selling drugs in the bar as, in his opinion, it was the only possible way I could be making money there.

“I asked him to go away as I didn't want trouble but when I later went to the toilet he came in after me and punched me, knocking me to the floor. I tried to get up but he jumped on top of me. Two friends who heard the commotion ran in and pulled him away. He was asked to leave the bar but came back a short time later.

“I was beside the door finishing my drink and about to leave when he came in again and suddenly I felt a big blow down the middle of my head, with what I thought was a bottle.”

His wife Wendy told the court that she saw Leonard approach Andrew and then strike him with the cleaver before turning to attack her.

She said: “My ear was nearly chopped off and, just as he tried to hit me again, my friend Lynn stepped in and was cut badly when she put her hand in the way to protect me”.

Lynn Gilliard described how she had ordered Leonard out of the bar after the initial argument and saw him return a short time later.

She said: “He entered the bar with knives in his hands. He went straight for Andy and hit him from behind. I saw him raise his hand again and I thought he was going for Wendy so I grabbed her but he caught me too.

“I don't think he was using the knives to intimidate. For me, he wanted to kill.”

Ms Gilliard added that she has partially lost the use of her right index finger as a result of the attack and admits to suffering 'nightmares and insomnia' since the incident.

In his opening statement to the court, Leonard - who acknowledged that the two large knives had 'probably come' from his apartment - admitted causing bodily harm but pleaded not guilty to the attempted murders of Mr and Mrs Stewart.

When pressed by the judges as to why he was now admitting guilt, he said: “It is clear that three people were injured and I was responsible, although I remember nothing about it. I must be guilty even if I don't remember.”

Speaking through an interpreter, he went on to explain that he had been taking co-codomol painkillers for arthritis in his knee and was also on paroxetine anti-depressants at the time.

He said: “I was not aware until the prison doctor told me that the two medications should not be taken together. My GP never warned me.”

His lawyer, Rubén Padrón Pérez repeatedly probed the doctors who examined him in prison to give an opinion as to whether the combination of the drugs and alcohol may have impaired Leonards' mental faculties and caused him to become aggressive.

Both doctors said that such an effect was 'very unlikely', particularly in a person who had confessed to 'drinking up to 12 litres of beer, wine and other drinks every night'.

When asked by the judges why he had not mentioned the medication issue until now, Leonard said he had never been given the chance and blamed his lawyer for 'losing his original statement' in which he had raised the matter.

In cross-examination, Leonard said his memory loss on the night of the attack must have been the result of a blow to the head received in the toilets at the bar, although he did not remember any such incident.

He said: “All I recall is waking up on my bed the following morning. I went to the bathroom and saw I had two black eyes and sore kidneys. I realised I must have been beaten up but I knew nothing about it”.

The trial was adjourned until November 13, when psychiatric reports on the defendant will be presented by the defence.

If convicted, Leonard faces a total jail term of 22 years on two charges of attempted murder and one of causing serious bodily harm.

He may also have to pay damages totalling nearly £130,000 to his victims, who have brought private prosecutions against him.

The Dorset Echo has learned that Leonard refused an offer last summer from the state prosecution which would have seen him plead guilty in return for a jail term of nine years and six months, less the nearly three years already spent on remand.

His Tenerife apartment, worth an estimated £50,000, is believed to have been embargoed by the court as collateral in the event that he is ordered to pay damages to the three victims of the attacks.