On 12th September 2025, 39-year-old Matthew Jonathan was sentenced to life imprisonment for the brutal murder of 55-year-old Jamie Gawler. His Honour Judge Burbidge KC ordered that he should serve a minimum term of 32 years before he could be considered for release by the Parole Board.
Phil Bradley KC, instructed by Kate Seal of the Complex Casework Unit, told the court that Matthew Jonathan befriended Jamie Gawler in early December 2024. He realised that Mr Gawler was homosexual and exchanged intimate messages with him. However, the Judge was satisfied that this was a ruse; in reality, the defendant took against Mr Gawler because of his sexuality and was intent on fleecing him of his money.
Unbeknown to Mr Gawler, the defendant had just been released from a prison sentence for the assault and intentional strangulation of his 88-year-old grandmother. Now homeless, Matthew Jonathan met Jamie Gawler through a mutual acquaintance. Mr Gawler offered him help and allowed him to stay at his flat in Hereford.
On 11th January Matthew Jonathan began viciously assaulting Jamie Gawler inside the flat. For days Mr Gawler was incapacitated, and the defendant would regularly leave the flat to buy alcohol using his victim’s credit cards. On his return the defendant would continue to beat Mr Gawler and filmed those beatings on his mobile phone. Throughout the assaults the defendant taunted Mr Gawler about his sexuality.
On 15th January Matthew Jonathan left Mr Gawler’s flat for the final time. The defendant then filmed an assault on another man in the street, later telling a witness, “I took him out with one clean punch”. In the recording, Matthew Jonathan boasted that he also had a dead body in the flat (clearly a reference to Jamie Gawler). Mr Gawler’s body was discovered by his brother on 18th January.
On 10th April 2015 Matthew Jonathan pleaded guilty to murdering Mr Gawler. When sentencing the defendant, the Judge observed that a psychiatric report showed there was no mental condition that diminished his culpability. Furthermore, he revelled in the brutality that he meted out to Mr Gawler. This was violence “beyond belief” perpetrated by a man with “the grain of a sadistic character” who is “a menace to society”. This murder was motivated by financial gain and by the defendant’s hostility to Mr Gawler’s sexual orientation. It therefore justified the starting point of 30 years as a minimum term before he could be considered for parole. The aggravating features were such that the appropriate minimum term was 35 years, which would be reduced by 3 years to reflect his guilty plea.
The Victim Personal Statements provided to the Court described Jamie Gawler as a kind, sensitive man who is deeply missed by his family.
