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‘Naked Carpenter’ Robert Jenner from Maidstone found guilty of attempted murder of police officer with pair of scissors

A serial flasher who repeatedly stabbed a police officer in the head, face and neck with a large pair of scissors while resisting arrest is facing a life sentence after being convicted of attempted murder.

Robert Jenner, once dubbed the Naked Carpenter after he gained notoriety for doing DIY in the nude, launched a vicious attack on PC Sean Quinn after he and a colleague had gone to the 50-year-old's flat in Maidstone in June last year.

The self-proclaimed naturist deliberately targeted the exposed areas of the policeman's upper body with force, inflicting a total of 19 wounds above the neckline plus a further four to his bare arm and wrist.

Jenner, who is currently on remand in London's high-security Belmarsh Prison, chose not to attend proceedings, which have been repeatedly delayed over several months as a result of him not engaging with his solicitor or a psychiatrist.

But at trial, it was claimed through his lawyer that on the day of the scissor assault, he had acted in reasonable self-defence in response to what he believed to be unlawful entry of his home or unlawful arrest, and had no intent to either kill or cause serious injury.

He denied both attempted murder and the alternative, less serious offence of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

However, today (December 10) he was found guilty by a majority verdict of 10 to 2 after the jury of six men and six women deliberated for about five hours at the end of a week-long trial.

Robert Jenner, also known as the Naked Carpenter, holding the scissors he attacked PC Quinn with. Picture: Kent Police
Robert Jenner, also known as the Naked Carpenter, holding the scissors he attacked PC Quinn with. Picture: Kent Police

The 59-year-old constable, who is yet to return to duty, was in court with several family members to hear the verdict. Jenner's mother and brother also attended.

Judge Philip St.John-Stevens said the sentencing hearing, to be held at a later date, would take into consideration the "extraordinary risk and level of abuse" faced by police officers.

He also asked for up-to-date victim impact statements from the injured officer and his three colleagues with him that night, as well as any input from the defendant if he so wished.

Jenner first made headlines eight years ago when his naked DIY activities led to complaints from outraged neighbours at his former home in Snodland.

Since then he has notched up a criminal record for flashing his manhood at customers while working as a Hermes delivery driver as well as parading in see-through shorts in a supermarket.

It was following a report to police that a man had been seen running "completely naked" while carrying a backpack and "nipping in and out of bushes exposing himself" to women in Mote Park at 7.50pm on June 15 last year that PC Quinn and PC Ashley Bates went to speak to Jenner.

Jurors heard that as well as having 11 previous convictions for exposure committed on 11 separate occasions, he has twice breached a court order that prohibits him from wearing transparent garments over his genitals in public.

Jenner had also been released from a prison sentence for flouting such a ban just two days earlier.

Robert Jenner was dubbed “The Naked Carpenter” after doing DIY in the nude. Picture: SWNS
Robert Jenner was dubbed “The Naked Carpenter” after doing DIY in the nude. Picture: SWNS

Not only was the description given similar to that of the former soldier with the Princess of Wales regiment but at around lunchtime that day he had been to Maidstone police station asking officers to return some items of his see-through clothing that had previously been seized.

When his request was refused, he commented on the weather and retorted he would be "stripping off now, w*****s".

Both PC Quinn and his colleague had had prior dealings over several years with Jenner, who once dubbed himself Mr Inappropriate after he had been caught wearing transparent trousers in a Wetherspoon pub in the town.

Although he had never been violent in the past or had any such convictions, he was known to be "quite anti-police".

Suspecting he was the park flasher, the two officers arrived at his first-floor flat in Albion Place shortly after 8pm, knocking on his door and saying they needed to speak to him about the incident.

But an abusive, agitated and naked Jenner refused to allow them entry despite their repeated requests and encouragement, and barricaded his front door with furniture, including an upturned sofa.

Over the course of the next 50 minutes, two more officers arrived with door enforcer equipment to smash their way in. Pava spray was also twice deployed by PC Bates.

The initial stand-off, followed by what was described by Christopher Jeyes, defending, as the "shambolic and unprofessional obliteration" of the door, were captured in bodyworn camera footage played in court.

Once inside the hallway, PC Quinn could be heard ordering Jenner to "show his hands" and being warned there could be "a little tussle" between them, which the defendant would lose.

The constable also ordered him to put the scissors down.

But it was after he had clambered over the furniture and followed Jenner into a kitchen lounge area that he was lunged at, overpowered and attacked.

His camera filmed the moment Jenner came towards him in the dark room, clutching the scissors "like a knuckleduster", the court was told.

PC Quinn, who was wearing a stab vest, told the court the violent assault started within a "split second" of him entering and he had no time to draw his own Pava spray, baton or handcuffs.

Robert Jenner has been found guilty of attempted murder. Picture: SWNS
Robert Jenner has been found guilty of attempted murder. Picture: SWNS

He then repeatedly shouted at Jenner to stop and screamed for help as the scissors, at times with the blunt-tipped blades partially open, were plunged multiple times into him with what a pathologist concluded to be moderate to severe force.

Reliving the moment he was attacked, the constable told the jury: "He ran towards me. My first thought was he was trying to kill me for some reason and I thought I'm not going to die and get stabbed in the back.

"So I ran towards him. Thinking fast, I wanted to grab him. I couldn't see the scissors at that point. The room had gone dark.

"Initially I felt a thud, but I didn't comprehend what it was, across my head. I carried on doing what I was trying to do and that was to take hold of Mr Jenner and restrict his movements.

"I just wanted to bear hug him, keep hold and control him, get some kind of hold on him. I had no view at all of the scissors. I lost sight [of them]. The room had gone dark."

The stabbing only stopped after PC Bates punched Jenner as many as six times to the back of the head, enabling PC Luke Isaacs to prise the weapon from his grip.

Emergency services at Jenner’s home in Albion Place, off Andrew Broughton Way in Maidstone. Picture: Laura Matisone
Emergency services at Jenner’s home in Albion Place, off Andrew Broughton Way in Maidstone. Picture: Laura Matisone

PC Bates described in her evidence hearing " a cry of anguish" as the attack unfolded while PC Isaacs said he feared his colleague would die.

As he was restrained and arrested, Jenner, who was himself covered in blood, could be heard to say "I didn't mean to do it" and "I didn't want it to come to this".

During cross-examination by Mr Jeyes, PC Quinn denied that he was angry and annoyed with Jenner.

He told the jury that due to his previous knowledge of the defendant as well as his non-compliance that night, forced entry and arrest were necessary.

The court was told that the heavily bleeding officer was airlifted to London's King's College Hospital but discharged the following day.

The "most graphic and significant" of his injuries was a large gash across his forehead that exposed his skull.

But prosecutor Daniel Stevenson said the wounds to the neck could have had far more serious, even fatal, consequences.

In his closing speech to the jury on Friday (December 6) he said that even though Jenner may have expressed "a sort of regret" for his conduct immediately after he had been arrested, the "extremely traumatic" events that night were "wholly of his own making".

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Furthermore, it was the prosecution case that "while he may not have succeeded in doing so....what was at the forefront of his mind when he was repeatedly stabbing towards PC Quinn's head, face and neck was killing him".

"The officers were doing nothing more than executing their public duty and arresting him on suspicion of committing yet another offence of exposure," added Mr Stevenson.

"They behaved with professionalism and dignity in difficult circumstances. His conduct had nothing to do with defending himself. It had everything to do with his anger at the police."

Mr Stevenson said the two officers, who were branded a "f***ing bitch" and "f***ing c***s" within a few minutes of their arrival, could not have given Jenner "more opportunity to cooperate" in their 30 minutes of interaction before the door enforcer equipment was brought to the flat by PC Isaacs.

"There was no basis for this defendant believing that they were not lawfully entitled to arrest him and not lawfully entitled to use reasonable force to do so," he explained.

"The defendant's conduct had nothing to do with defending himself. It had everything to do with the infliction of serious violence on a police officer.

"It was a straightforward case of the defendant launching an attack on PC Quinn because he didn't want to be arrested."

Of the question of Jenner having used reasonable force, the prosecutor added: "His response was so grossly disproportionate, so over-the-top, so unreasonable, that he could not possibly avail himself of the defence of self-defence."

The trial was held at Maidstone Crown Court
The trial was held at Maidstone Crown Court

The defence argued, however, that the convicted sex offender, having already been twice "attacked" by Pava spray and without warning, may have feared another attack.

It was also suggested that, in light of Jenner's own reference on the bodyworn camera footage to PACE - the legislation that provides the framework for police powers - he may have believed the officers were trespassing on his property.

Mr Jeyes questioned whether by calling the defendant "a d***head" in the stand-off, PC Quinn had "lost his temper and strayed into unprofessional behaviour".

He also said the defendant was not a "high risk" sex offender, nor a violent criminal, and had been arrested in the past "seemingly" without incident, yet police "smashed their way in, nonetheless".

Questioning why the incident had escalated into violence, he added that it was a consequence of how police behaved and not Jenner.

"The prosecution cannot prove he was grossly disproportionate or unreasonable in arming himself at the moment the police officer came through the door," he told the jury.

"The scissors are sharp but not as sharp as kitchen knives may have been. They are capable of stabbing but not potentially as lethal as the screwdrivers we see [in scenes of crime photos] on the floor or as damaging as the chainsaw we see there appears to be a box for."

Jenner denied the charge but was convicted by a jury. Picture: Kent Police
Jenner denied the charge but was convicted by a jury. Picture: Kent Police

The barrister also argued that the injuries could have been the result of the officer "twisting or moving" his head while in close proximity to the blades and causing damage to himself in what was a "confusing and quick-moving" incident in the dark.

Of the prosecution's assertion Jenner intended to kill or even to cause serious injury, Mr Jeyes said: "Here there is a weapon available and there is a weapon used and there is an opportunity to cause a fatal injury, if that was desired.

"But what ended up was, although distressing and upsetting, nowhere near a fatal injury."

Furthermore, Jenner's remarks in the immediate aftermath were "not consistent with someone trying to kill but more consistent with someone forced to defend themselves in the dark," added Mr Jeyes.

Following his arrest, Jenner declined a solicitor and answered "no comment" to most of the questions asked of him during an interview conducted through a door after he refused to leave his custody cell.

At the start of his trial, Judge St.John-Stevens told the jury that the defendant's decision not to attend proceedings was his right and should not be held against him.

Mr Jeyes, who had been able to speak with Jenner at the prison on the first two days of trial, informed the court after the guilty verdict that he would endeavour to take instructions from him again but warned there may not be "any increased engagement".

Chief Superintendent Neil Loudon said: “Jenner carried out a sustained and savage attack which lasted more than 20 seconds and has led to some of the worst injuries to a police officer I have ever seen. It is only by pure chance that none of these injuries proved to be fatal.

“This incident highlights the level of risk our officers can face when attending incidents and of their willingness to face danger to protect others. It is clear Jenner poses a serious and substantial threat to the public. His conviction for attempted murder is an important reminder of the courage and selflessness of our police officers that often gets unnoticed.”

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