An inquest heard today that a HEARTBROKEN father accidently ran over and murdered his three-year-old son as he played on his bike at the family farm.
On August 3 of last year, Ianto Jenkins passed away in front of his home in the Clynderwen neighbourhood of Pembrokeshire when his father failed to notice him in the pickup truck mirrors.
Ianto was crushed and died from a catastrophic head injury when Father Guto Jenkins, 32, was leaving the farm to supply top soil.
Ianto changed his mind and preferred to keep playing on his bike with his cousins, according to Guto, who claimed in a statement that he had planned to accompany him on the delivery run.
Guto reportedly pulled away in the silver Volkswagen Amtrak truck after being “assured it was safe,” according to the Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire Coroner’s Court.
He said: “Satisfied it was safe I pulled away forwards and drove up the road. I did not see Ianto anywhere near the Volkswagen or the trailer.
“I was satisfied it was clear and safe for me to pull away.
“I did not see him at any point despite checking my mirror and over my shoulder.
“I did not see, hear, or feel anything unusual.
“I received a call from my mum saying ‘Ianto is dead’. It was the worst call of my life.”
Ianto’s mother and Guto are divorced, and Guto claims he had not yet left the farm when his mother called to inform him.
I don’t know how Ianto got hit, he confessed. I’m not sure which aspect of the trailer caused him harm.
“I still have flashbacks. There’s not a day that goes by I do not think of Ianto and the circumstances of his death at the age of three.
“It is a waking nightmare that I will live with for the rest of my life.
“The pain and guilt will not go away.”
Ianto and his sister were staying with their father at the dairy farm, according to testimony given during the inquest in Llanelli, Wales.
During the inquest, Ianto’s grandmother Menir Jenkins, 61, testified that she was using her laptop in the farmhouse when Seren, Ianto’s older sister, yelled “Mamu Ianto is dead” as she entered.
She said: “She’s such a dramatic child I thought she was exaggerating and Ianto had grazed his knee.
“I could see him lying on the floor and I thought he had fallen off his bike and grazed his knee but as I got closer and was within a few inches I could see the back of his head was open.”
