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

A notorious serial flasher convicted of trying to murder a police officer by repeatedly stabbing him in the head, face and neck with a large pair of scissors has been jailed for 30 years.

Robert Jenner, once famously dubbed the Naked Carpenter for his nude DIY exploits, launched what the prosecution described as a "brutal, frenzied and wholly gratuitous" attack on PC Sean Quinn as he tried to resist arrest.

He and colleagues had gone to the 50-year-old's flat in Maidstone to investigate a report of a man streaking in the town's Mote Park.

But having greeted them in an "abusive and agitated" mood and obstructed their attempts to speak to him for almost an hour, the self-proclaimed naturist and ex-soldier charged at the constable.

Jurors heard how, with the scissor handles clenched across his knuckles, Jenner deliberately targeted the exposed areas of the policeman's upper body with the blades.

A total of 19 wounds were inflicted above PC Quinn's neckline plus a further three to his bare arm and one that went through his wrist.

The most severe of his injuries was a large gash across the width of his forehead which exposed his skull.

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 onslaught by a naked Jenner only came to an end thanks to the desperate efforts of the constable's fellow officers.

Under arrest and covered in blood, he told them that he "didn't mean to do it" and "didn't want it to come to this".

He later denied attempted murder, as well as the alternative, less serious offence of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, but refused to attend court for his trial in December.

It was therefore left to his barrister Chris Jeyes to argue that his actions that night amounted to reasonable self-defence in response to what was believed to be unlawful entry of his home or unlawful arrest, and that he had no intent to either kill or cause serious injury.

This was rejected however by the six men and six women of the jury who, after five hours' deliberation and by a majority of 10 to 2, found him guilty of attempted murder.

With the potential for a life sentence being imposed, Judge Philip St.John-Stevens adjourned proceedings until today (February 4) to give Jenner an opportunity to engage with his legal team.

The judge had said the sentencing hearing would also take into consideration the "extraordinary risk and level of abuse" faced by police officers.

But although PC Quinn attended, supported by members of his family, friends and colleagues including those that saved him that night, Jenner still refused to leave his cell at London's high security Belmarsh Prison.

In the would-be killer's absence, prosecutor Tom Dunn read a number of victim impact statements including that of the 59-year-old officer who, at the time of the attack, had served for 27 years.

"The injuries have healed but the scars are evident and serve as a constant reminder to him of the attack on him," Mr Dunn told the court.

Naturist Robert Jenner worked as a carpenter. Picture: SWNS
Naturist Robert Jenner worked as a carpenter. Picture: SWNS

As well as the stab wounds, three muscles in his thigh were ruptured in the tussle for which he needed surgery to reattach but has left him 20% disabled.

He also suffers numbness from nerve damage to his forehead and at one stage feared he would have to give up his policing career.

"That upset him because he said he wanted to finish his career on his terms and not on somebody else's," added Mr Dunn.

PC Quinn, a married man with children, was also said to have struggled with the impact the attack had on his family, experiencing "huge guilt" in particular for what his wife Sharon was put through.

"He said 'The massive impact for me is knowing people around me have been greatly affected and seeing everyone running around me was overwhelming'," continued the prosecutor.

"I will be forever humbled by all the sympathy from family, colleagues and friends."

The court heard the officer and his wife had also questioned why he had been assaulted so violently by someone he knew through his work.

Mr Dunn told the court: "He said 'We tried to make sense of it but there is no explanation from Mr Jenner. It is something I will always be curious about. The amount of violence was not warranted.'“

PC Quinn returned to restricted duties in July last year but has had to consider the prospect of early retirement.

Mrs Quinn, in her impact statement, recalled "all her breath going" when a colleague of her husband's knocked at her door to deliver the distressing news.

Emergency services were called to Andrew Broughton Way in Maidstone. Picture: Laura Matisone
Emergency services were called to Andrew Broughton Way in Maidstone. Picture: Laura Matisone

She said her partner of 25 years was "the big, strong one in the family" and the thought of losing him was "unbearable".

Eighteen months on from the attack, Mrs Quinn said she is still anxious and, although proud of his determination to get back to frontline duty, was scared about him returning to work.

Similar statements made by his children were also read to the court, including one in which it was movingly said: "Jenner failed in killing my dad but a part of him still died that night."

Another described seeing her father as an "indestructible hero" at the heart of their family, adding they had been "shaken to the core with the realisation of how close we came to losing him".

It was on the evening of June 15, 2023, that PC Quinn and PC Ashley Bates had gone to Jenner's home in Albion Place.

The trial of Robert Jenner, also known as the Naked Carpenter, was heard at Maidstone Crown Court. Picture: Kent Police
The trial of Robert Jenner, also known as the Naked Carpenter, was heard at Maidstone Crown Court. Picture: Kent Police

A report had been made to police at 7.50pm that a "completely naked" man - save for a backpack - had been seen running in Mote Park while "nipping in and out of bushes exposing himself" to women.

Jurors heard that Jenner, who once served with the Princess of Wales’ regiment, was well-known to police having notched up numerous previous convictions for exposure.

These were committed while working as a Hermes delivery driver and during a supermarket shopping trip.

He had also breached a criminal behaviour order prohibiting him from wearing transparent garments over his genitals in public, and just two days before the scissor attack had been released from a two-year prison sentence for flouting such a ban.

Furthermore, as well as fitting the description of the naked park runner, earlier that same day he had threatened to "strip off" when officers at Maidstone police station refused his request to return previously seized items of transparent clothing.

But although Jenner, who once dubbed himself Mr Inappropriate, was said to be "quite anti-police", he had never been violent in the past or had any such convictions.

PC Quinn and PC Bates, who knew of Jenner through previous dealings, arrived at his first-floor flat shortly after 8pm.

Their efforts to speak to him and gain access, however, were thwarted as Jenner barricaded the front door with furniture, including an upturned sofa.

During the stand-off that followed, two police colleagues arrived with door enforcer equipment. Pava spray was also deployed.

Once inside Jenner's hallway, bodyworn camera footage captured PC Quinn ordering him to "show his hands" and to "put the scissors down".

But it was after the officer had managed to clamber over the furniture and follow Jenner into a kitchen lounge area that he was lunged at, overpowered and attacked.

PC Quinn, who was wearing a stab vest, told the court the violent ambush started within a "split second" of him entering, giving him no time to draw his own Pava spray, baton or handcuffs as the scissors were plunged multiple times into him with force.

Giving evidence, the constable had told the jury that although he believed Jenner was trying to kill him, he bravely resolved he would not die and did all he could to try and restrain his assailant.

Police forced entry into the flat of Robert Jenner in Maidstone in which a police officer was seriously injured. This image was taken from body-worn camera footage. Picture: Kent Police
Police forced entry into the flat of Robert Jenner in Maidstone in which a police officer was seriously injured. This image was taken from body-worn camera footage. Picture: Kent Police

"Initially I felt a thud - but I didn't comprehend what it was - across my head," PC Quinn explained. "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 repeatedly punched Jenner to the back of the head, enabling another colleague - PC Luke Isaacs - to prise the weapon from his grip.

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

The heavily bleeding constable was airlifted to London's King's College Hospital and discharged the following day.

But jurors were told that Jenner had been intent on killing the officer that night and the neck wounds he inflicted had the potential to be far more serious, if not fatal.

At trial, prosecutor Daniel Stevenson said: "The officers were doing nothing more than executing their public duty and arresting him on suspicion of committing yet another offence of exposure.

"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."

The sentencing hearing was held at Maidstone Crown Court. Picture: Stock image
The sentencing hearing was held at Maidstone Crown Court. Picture: Stock image

Once in custody, Jenner declined a solicitor and, having refused to leave his cell, answered "No comment" to most of the questions asked of him during an interview that had to be conducted through the door.

In their victim impact statements, PC Bates and PC Isaacs expressed the horror of finding their colleague under attack and lying in a pool of blood.

PC Bates said it was "absolutely terrifying and surreal" and feared the man she called “Quinny” would die.

She added she was left with "conflicting and overwhelming" feelings and considered quitting the force she had served in for 16 years.

PC Isaacs said he believed the incident would stay with him throughout his career.

"I think we are often expected as police officers to face and expect aggressions and violence towards us," he stated.

"It was a senseless and disgusting attack against a colleague who was a long-standing officer who joined the force, like most of us, to protect the public."

Five of the 12 jurors returned for the sentencing hearing. The reason for Jenner's decision to refuse to attend was not given in open court.

Mr Jeyes said however that it was "not a particularly surprising development and entirely in-keeping with the history of the case."

He added he had no "express instructions" from the defendant as to whether the hearing could continue in his absence but also "nothing to strongly indicate" it should not.

In the build-up to the trial there were significant delays caused by Jenner's reluctance to engage with the court process and his legal team, leading to more than 20 hearings.

Deciding to sentence him in his absence, Judge St.John-Stevens said while there may be good reason for a defendant to appear in court to learn his fate, there should also be "finality so the victim and his family can move on".

Judge Philip St.John-Stevens sentenced Robert Jenner at Maidstone Crown Court
Judge Philip St.John-Stevens sentenced Robert Jenner at Maidstone Crown Court

In his limited mitigation, Mr Jeyes argued that there was "a potential element of self-defence" in his client's "spontaneous" actions.

"I cannot, of course, justify what he then did, but the verdict of the jury does not shut out the possibility that he started with some potential for defending himself, albeit he then utterly lost all control," he told the court.

The lawyer added that Jenner, who could be "obstructive, difficult and awkward but not necessarily violent", had expressed "a level of remorse and regret" when he asked in the aftermath about PC Quinn's welfare.

Jenner's mother attended the trial in support of her son, together at times with one or more of his brothers.

Praising their dignity, and that of the officers, Mr Jeyes told the judge: "You would have got the impression he is in some ways a very lonely and troubled individual with limited points of contact in the community and is relatively estranged from his family.

"He does have some limited contact with his brothers, much less so with his mother and she will undoubtedly be greatly troubled by what happens today."

Imposing the lengthy jail term, of which Jenner will have to serve at least two-thirds before he can apply for parole, Judge St.John-Stevens told the court that when PC Quinn set out for work that day he "thankfully had no idea what was to happen".

Having decided that Jenner was a dangerous offender and therefore an extended sentence was necessary to protect the public from serious harm, he said the officers' "encouraging" efforts to engage had "fallen on deaf ears".

Describing the moment PC Quinn came under attack, the judge said that as the most experienced officer present, he no doubt believed he could "simply diffuse" the situation and coax Jenner to comply, only to be violently and repeatedly stabbed.

Acknowledging the profound psychological and physical impact on PC Quinn, his family and colleagues, Judge St.John-Stevens said: "No sentence I pass today can turn the clock back.

"No sentence can be viewed and should not be viewed as an accrued measure of the pain and suffering and the ripple effect of what occurred on that day.

Naturist Robert Jenner worked as a carpenter. Picture: SWNS
Naturist Robert Jenner worked as a carpenter. Picture: SWNS

"But perhaps it will permit the beginning to some degree of closure and some degree of emotional healing."

Of the fellow officers' quick response to assist their stricken colleague, he added: "They acted and reacted with bravery and instantaneous actions once they processed what was happening in front of them.

"Robert Jenner's attempt to kill the officer may well have been carried out but for the bravery of the other officers coming in and disarming Robert Jenner and preventing him [PC Quinn] from being stabbed further."

Rejecting any suggestion of self-defence, the judge said it was not "even close", stating the defendant was someone with "a high level of grievance towards the police and those in authority".

"He had made a determined decision. He was not letting the police in and that was what he was prepared to do," he explained.

"He barricaded himself in. He was asked to put the scissors down. He made that choice.

"It's clear his intention was to resist arrest, put the sofa against the door, take up a weapon. There was no need to defend himself at all."

The court heard that although Jenner may have felt "under stress or anxious" at the prospect of being re-arrested, he did not suffer from a mental disorder or learning disability which would substantially reduce his culpability for the offence of attempted murder.

Under the extended sentence, on release Jenner will have a further five years added to any licence period.

PCs Bates, Isaacs and Sophie Groves were all commended by the judge for their courage without which "PC Quinn may not be sitting here today", he remarked.

"The police must understand that they engage in difficult and dangerous jobs. They must understand that the court recognises and acknowledges the danger they put themselves in to uphold law and order."

The charge of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm was left on the court file.

Speaking outside court after the sentencing, DI Lee Neiles said the attack was “the worst he had seen on a police officer ever”.

He continued: “PC Quinn, who went to arrest Robert Jenner, was subjected to a vicious and brutal attack with scissors which caused severe injuries.

"Over 20 injuries to his head, face and neck. I believe had it not been for the training and experience of PC Quinn, and the bravery of his colleagues, PCs Isaacs, Bates and Groves, we could have been dealing with a murder inquiry here.

"Although Robert Jenner was known for offences of exposure, there were no previous convictions to tell us he was a particularly violent male.

"What this case does highlight is the very real dangers front line officers go through day in and day out in order to protect the public.

"This attack has had a profound impact not only on PC Quinn but his colleagues as well. That was clear when they gave evidence in court and I hope now a sentence has been passed they can start to move on with their careers."

"As police officers we expect a level of abuse, it's not to say that is right. We do expect abuse, but nothing like this. This is by far the worst attack on a police officer I've ever seen in my career.

"We welcome the sentence. It's a significant sentence. That sentence reflects the vicious and brutal nature of the attack on PC Quinn."

Chief Superintendent Neil Loudon said after the sentencing hearing: “Jenner was responsible for a sustained and savage attack against a front-line police officer dedicated to serving his local community.

“This terrifying ordeal lasted more than 20 seconds and only ended when colleagues were able to intervene and assist the officer in restraining Jenner.

“Jenner has inflicted some of the worst injuries to a constable I have ever seen and this case is also a reminder of the challenges police officers face through their readiness to confront danger and protect others.

“Throughout all the court proceedings Jenner has displayed his clear contempt for the law and has also remained unrepentant for his shocking actions.

“He remains a serious and substantial threat to the public and will now rightly be in prison for a very long time.”

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