What happened to Jamie Gawler?

JAMIE Gawler took pity on a homeless man and offered him a bed for Christmas, but within weeks he was beaten to death in his own flat. His horrific killing is the focus of BBC docuseries Murder 24/7, which follows West Mercia Police as they piece together his final days. Jamie Gawler was beaten to death at his flat in Hereford after offering a homeless man a place to stay Credit: facebook/@herefordpolice Matthew Jonathan was jailed for life with a minimum term of 32 years Credit: West Mercia Police Who was Jamie Gawler? Jamie lived alone in a flat at Brierley Court, Hereford. Those who knew him describe a quiet, generous man who went to church and attended Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! A neighbour told the programme: “Jamie spent a lot of time on his own. I felt he was a bit of a loner and he didn’t want to be. “I used to talk to him through his window as I passed by. He had a heart of gold. He was a lovely chap and enjoyed a chat.” In December 2024, Matthew Jonathan was released from prison and met Jamie shortly afterwards at a night shelter in Hereford. Jamie’s stepmother Milo said: “He was very thoughtful and was always laughing as a child. “I would say he was a timid boy. Very gentle, quite shy, but very loving. “Jamie told me that he’d met a chap who was homeless in Hereford and said he was going to ask him if he’d like to come and stay at his flat for Christmas, because it was so cold and he didn’t like the idea of him being out in the cold.” Most read in The Sun Jamie kindly offered him a place to stay. His father Nigel explained: “It didn’t surprise me that Jamie would feel sorry for him but it did surprise me that he would invite him in. “Jamie very rarely had other people in the flat. He was a solitary person, really.” A man who knew both Jamie and Jonathan from AA meetings added: “Jamie was one of the most kind-hearted lovely people I’ve ever met. He wouldn’t hurt anyone. “He was good to me. He always used to give me cigarettes or a couple of quid. “He used to call me handsome or ‘the looker’ because he was gay. “Jamie told me that Matt was staying with him for a while. I felt he was latching onto Jamie. Matt had a short temper.” What happened to Jamie Gawler? On January 12, 2025, Jamie was last seen alive on CCTV after midnight buying items at a garage. By that evening he had been attacked, with further violence following over several days while Jonathan used his bank cards in local shops. On January 17, Jonathan travelled to South Wales. CCTV at Porth railway station at 5.33am shows him falling backwards, hitting his head and lying unconscious. He came round and attacked the paramedic sent to help him, leaving Jamie’s phone and bank cards on the platform floor. The next day Jamie’s brother rang his mobile and a South Wales Police officer answered, explaining it had been found at Porth. Officers also recovered bank cards in both men’s names, making Jonathan a suspect. The brother went to the flat and found blood on the hallway floor and up the walls, and Jamie dead in an armchair with a red towel draped over him. A post-mortem found blunt force trauma to the head, neck and chest, with almost every rib broken. Who killed Jamie Gawler? Jonathan, then 39 and of no fixed abode, had 18 previous convictions covering 33 offences, including strangulation, Class A drug possession and the assault of a grandmother. He was released from prison just six weeks before he murdered Jamie. Two fingerprints on one of eleven empty vodka bottles in the flat matched him, and a bloody boot print at the scene was traced to his rare footwear through a national database. Videos on his phone showed him beating Jamie while shouting homophobic abuse. The monster gave largely “no comment” answers in police interviews but pleaded guilty. Jonathan was jailed for life at Worcester Crown Court on September 12, 2025, with a minimum term of 32 years. Judge James Burbidge said the brutal attack was “beyond belief”. Jamie’s dad Nigel has chosen to forgive the killer, explaining: “Hatred was what Jonathan felt toward Jamie. He hated him for what he was. “Being a Christian, I’ve had to reconcile my faith against the awful things that Jonathan did. But I can’t let that hate eat into me. “I have made the personal decision to forgive Jonathan for what he’s done. I think Jamie would have wanted me to.” When is Murder 24/7 on TV? Murder 24/7 airs at 9pm on Tuesday, August 4, and Wednesday, August 5 on BBC One. Both parts will be available on iPlayer live and for catch-up afterwards. The episodes are titled Natural Born Killer Part One and Part Two, with the name coming from the words tattooed across Jonathan’s back, which were discovered when police searched him in custody. Comment now