Defence claims self defence which went too far in brutal murder of 22-year-old woman

The defence began its case at the David Yates murder trial Monday, arguing the death of Caitlin Jennings was an act of self defence. Nick Paparella reports.

The defence at the second-degree murder trial of David Yates, 53, of London started its case on Monday in St. Thomas with an opening address that claimed that this was a case of intimate partner violence.

However, defence lawyer Cassandra DeMelo said unlike most cases, the victim here was her male client.

The court has heard the victim and the accused in this case had a turbulent relationship which ended violently.

On July 5, 2023, the badly beaten body of Caitlin Jennings, 22, would be discovered at 562 Kingsway Ave. in west London.

DeMelo claimed that before that date, “Mr. Yates endured months of serious and life-threatening assaults at the hands of Ms. Jennings.”

“She would choke Mr. Yates with her arm in a chokehold regularly – you’ve already seen a video of that too,” she continued. “These were not isolated incidents.”

The court has heard that there were several assault occurrences involving the victim, the accused and police in London and Strathroy.

With the first three defence police and civilian witnesses backing up the claim, DeMelo alleged, “On several occasions, she choked him to unconsciousness, would kick him... and on one occasion, even bit his face,” adding, “Police intervention not only happened for this last incident, but for many incidents, as the court has already started to hear.”

When London police officers found Jennings’ body on that summer day, they would quickly charge Yates with second-degree murder. He has pled not guilty.

Once he realized Jennings died, DeMelo argued that Yates was overcome with grief and then attempted suicide to escape the unintended reality of the situation.

During the Crown’s evidence, the court heard that Jennings suffered more than 200 injuries and died from multiple blunt force trauma blows.

Before wrapping up her opening address, DeMelo told the court, “Because of the amount of injuries to Ms. Jennings, Mr. Yates understands that a true, full self-defence defence is unlikely to succeed.”

She finished by asking Justice Joseph Perfetto to find Yates guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter.

The trial resumes on Tuesday.