Man died three years after beating over grandson’s care, court told

John Davies was allegedly set upon by his daughter’s boyfriend in May 2016 and died in April 2019, aged 56.

Daniel Benitez is on trial at the Old Bailey (Daniel Leal-Olivas/PA) (PA Archive)

A man died three years after suffering a “brutal” attack sparked by a decision to take his grandson into care, a court has heard.

John Davies was allegedly set upon by his daughter’s boyfriend in May 2016 and died in April 2019, aged 56.

Daniel Benitez, 31, is on trial at the Old Bailey accused of his murder.

On Monday, prosecutor Tom Little KC said: “This was a one-sided attack in which a younger and stronger man, the defendant, assaulted John Davies as well as causing damage to the property.

“Upon the return of the deceased’s ex-wife, Lynn Davies, she came across both the defendant and her ex-husband who was gravely injured.

“The defendant attacked her too, injuring her and making threats.”

During the assaults at her home in Streatham Hill, south London, Benitez took possessions, including bank cards belonging to the victims’ son, jurors were told.

Mr Little told jurors an issue in the case would be whether the assault in 2016 caused or contributed to Mr Davies’ death in 2019.

He said: “The deceased never made any real recovery from the severe injuries caused by the fists and feet of the defendant.

“We suggest…you are likely to have little difficultly in determining that the defendant’s brutal attack on John Davies was the cause of his ultimate death.”

The relationship between Mr Davies’s daughter and the defendant was “volatile” on occasion and the couple blamed her parents when her young son was taken into care, it was alleged.

Mr Little said: “The rights and wrongs of the decision to take him into care are irrelevant but what is not irrelevant is that the defendant appears to have been angry about what he perceived to be an injustice and for which the deceased and his wife were in part to blame.”

Benitez, formerly from Wandsworth, south London, denies murder and the Old Bailey trial continues.