Man stabbed ex-partner repeatedly in chest after ambushing her on dog walk, court told

That concludes our coverage of the trial today.

Here is a recap of the key moments from court today:

• The defendant and vicitm were former partners, and Miss Sidaway lived on the edge of Carmarthen Park where she regularly walked her dog
• On the morning of January 29 this year the defendant packed a large kitchen knife some 30cm in length in a rucksack and walked to the park
• After walking around the park the defendant took a taxi into the town centre before returning in the afternoon
• At just after 4pm a neighbour of Miss Sidaway who was in the park saw her friend's dog and heard "very high-pitched screams" coming from bushes near the Picton Terrace entrance. The woman then saw a man running away, and saw her friend bleeding from wounds
• Miss Sidaway 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
• The defendant 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
• The prosecution barrister James Wilson told the jury: "He [the defendant] accepts he had the knife. He accepts he unlawfully attacked Miss Sidaway. He accepts he intended to cause really serious harm. The prosecution does not accept his intent was limited to causing really serious harm. It is the prosecution case that he intended to kill her. Therefore, the issue in the trial will be his intent at the time of the attack"

We will return for day two of the trial tomorrow at 10.30am.

The hearing resumes.

A new juror is selected and joins the other 11 in court. As the trial is going to re-start, all 12 jurors take an oath or affirmation and a new jury is formed.

Barrister James Wilson opens the case for the prosecution - the opening is the same one the previous jury heard.

The trial resumes after the break - a break which has included the court having to take verdicts in another trial being heard in the same court.

The court hears an issue has arisen with a juror in the McKenna trial, and after a discussion with prosecution and defence barristers, judge Paul Thomas discharges the juror in question.

The judge tells the existing 11 jurors that a new juror will now be selected to join the jury, and that the whole jury will hear the prosecution opening again.

The court adjourns while a new juror is selected.

The jury is taken through a timeline of McKennas movements after he leaves the park and gets in a taxi at 9.24am.

The court heard his whereabouts are unknown until 11.13am when he arrives in Lamas Street in a cab and goes to the Time Coffee Bar.

While in the coffee shop the defendant rings the Cancer Research UK shop in Carmarthen to tell them he will be late. The court hears January 29 was McKennas first day working as a volunteer in the charity shop.

The court hears the defendant leaves the coffee shop at just after midday and walks to the Cancer Research shop in Merlins Walk where he starts his shift at 12.10pm.

McKenna finishes his shift at 2.10pm and walks to the towns main Tesco store, entering the supermarket at 2.36pm and buying various items of food which he puts in his rucksack.

The court hears he re-enters Carmarthen Park by the skatepark entrance at 3.02pm.

The first evidence in the case - a presentation of maps, photographs, and CCTV clips - are called on by Mr Wilson.

The officer in the case, Dyfed-Powys Police detective constable Hannah Issac, goes into the witness box to take jurors through the electronic presentation.

The jury is shown a series of maps of Carmarthen town centre and Carmarthen Park, and shown the route McKenna took from his home on Bro Hedydd to the park on the morning of January 29.

The jury sees an animation showing the routes around the park walked by McKenna and Miss Sidaway. The two do not meet. A series of CCTV clips are played showing the defendant and the victim walking in the park.

The barrister tells the jury that the prosecution will raise a series of matters which point to the defendants intent - the fact McKenna packed a knife in his rucksack that morning; the size of knife which shows it to be a lethal weapon; the fact he had no reason to be in the park on the afternoon in question when he lived on the other side of Carmarthen; the number of wounds sustained by Miss Sidaway and the damage to her clothing.

He says: It was not an isolated blow. There were multiple blows to the chest area, a vulnerable part of the body.

Mr Wilson says the fact McKenna did not kill Miss Sidaway may be a combination of things - the heavy coat Miss Sidaway was wearing; her efforts in defending herself; her screams which may have caused the defendant to pause or stop his attack; Or it may be, simply, her profound good luck that she did not die.

The barrister tells the jurors that it is for the prosecution to make them sure that the defendant had the intent to kill Miss Sidaway.

The prosecution barrister now takes the members of the jury to the indictment, and to the charge the defendant faces - attempted murder.

He says McKenna has already pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent and to possession of a bladed article in a public place.

He tells the jurors: He accepts he had the knife. He accepts he unlawfully attacked Miss Sidaway. He accepts he intended to cause really serious harm.

"The prosecution does not accept his intent was limited to causing really serious harm. It is the prosecution case that he intended to kill her. Therefore, the issue in the trial will be his intent at the time of the attack.

Mr Wilson says the defendants movements are unknown in the days that followed the attack until February 2 when police were notified that he had attended the A&E department at Aberystwyth hospital with frostbite to his feet.

The court hears the defendant was arrested and in his subsequent interview gave officers a prepared statement in which he accepted having a knife and accepted he was responsible for the injuries to Miss Sidaway but denied any intent to kill her.

The prosecution barrister says McKenna was caught on CCTV running away from the area of the incident towards nearby allotments carrying an item.

He says as part of the investigation into the incident, police searched the park and surrounding areas and on January 31 recovered a rucksack and a blood-stained kitchen knife wrapped in a calendar from the allotments.

The barrister tells the court that DNA matching Miss Sidaways was found on the knife, as were the defendants fingerprints.

The prosecution barrister says paramedics arrived at 4.16pm and found Miss Sidaway sitting on steps and covered in blood.

He says a later medical examination would show Miss Sidaway suffered four penetrating wounds to her chest both above and below her breast, and penetrating wounds to her upper arm as well as wounds to her hands.

He says an examination of Miss Sidaways clothes found 11 cuts made by a stabbing action and two by slashes.

The court hears the witness took Miss Sidaway home and tended to her wounds and Miss Sidaway told her she had been attacked by her ex.

The witness partner called 999, as did Miss Sidaway, with the victim telling police she had been stabbed by her ex-partner who had been stalking her.

The barrister says the defendant took a taxi into Carmarthen town centre and was seen on CCTV at various locations around the town before returning to the park in the afternoon. He says Miss Sidaway had also returned to the park to walk her dog again.

The barrister tells the jury that just after 4pm a woman walking in the park heard very high-pitched screams and saw movements and shaking in bushes.

The witness also saw Miss Sidaways dog standing on its hind legs, and then saw Miss Sidaway in the bushes against a wall.

The barrister says the witness then saw a man - who the prosecution say was McKenna - running away.

The barrister says the defendant walked from his home in Carmarthen to Carmarthen Park, entering by the Tesco entrance at 8.39am and walking around the parks velodrome before heading towards nearby allotments and then returning to the velodrome area.

He says McKenna had his rucksack on his back, and says at one stage a shiny object could be seen on CCTV sticking out of the bag which the prosecution say was the point of the knife which was poking out.

The barrister says Miss Sidaway was also in the park at the same time walking her dog, but says the defendant did not approach her at that stage perhaps because there were other dog walkers in the area.

He says McKenna left the park at 9.15pm.

Barrister James Wilson opens the case for the prosecution.

He tells the jury: On the afternoon of Thursday, January 29, James McKenna - the defendant - stabbed Joanne Sidaway, his ex-partner, to the chest area with a knife.

"He stabbed her multiple times. The attack happened in Carmarthen Park. Miss Sidaway lives on the edge of the park. The park is an area where she regularly walks her dog.

That morning the defendant left his address at 8.30am. He had a rucksack. In the rucksack he had placed a knife. It was a large knife with a total length of 30cm.