Rugby player murder accused felt remorse - inquest

Jack Kirmond, 33, died in August 2022 after he was punched outside the rugby club where he played

A man accused of killing an amateur rugby player was “devastated” with guilt before his death while on remand in prison, an inquest has heard.

Lee Robinson had been charged with murdering 33-year-old Jack Kirmond, who died on 8 August 2022 after he was allegedly punched outside Sharlston Rovers rugby club, where he was a player.

Mr Kirmond was the brother of former Super League star Danny Kirmond, who played for Wakefield Trinity and Huddersfield Giants across an 18-year career.

Mr Robinson, who died in his cell at HMP Leeds on his 39th birthday on 11 December that year, had denied murdering Mr Kirmond but had wanted to plead guilty to manslaughter, an inquest into his death was told.

The proceedings, held at Wakefield Coroner's Court, were told that Mr Robinson, from Castleford, was "consumed with remorse" and had spoken about the prospect of Mr Kirmond's children being without their father for Christmas.

Giving evidence, Mr Robinson’s mother Deborah said her son, who was a father-of-three, was “absolutely devastated” by what had happened.

In a written statement read out at the inquest, she said her son had fatally struck Mr Kirmond after he had "intervened in an argument".

Addressing the court verbally, Mrs Robinson said: "He just couldn’t live with himself.

“There would be days when he was just that low and anxious. Anxiety started to take over him.”

Mrs Robinson said that a “lot of his struggle” was due to delays in the legal case against him.

Mr Kirmond played for Sharlston Rovers rugby club

The inquest was told that a crown court hearing shortly before his death, at which Mr Robinson anticipated the charge against him could be downgraded to manslaughter, was adjourned because a legal report was outstanding.

The Crown Prosecution Service has been contacted for comment.

Mrs Robinson told the court: “His main concern was the charge of murder, that it would go to trial and he couldn’t face the lad’s family.

“He was really struggling with that. If (the charge) had gone to manslaughter sooner he would have dealt with things better. It was the word ‘murder’. He couldn’t take it.”

A fellow inmate and close friend of Mr Robinson found him fatally injured in his cell as he visited with a birthday card and present on the afternoon of 11 December 2022.

'He was struggling'

Giving evidence via video-link, the witness said he had been co-running a mental health support group for fellow inmates with Mr Robinson.

However, he said that in the week before his death, Mr Robinson had not been getting out of bed.

“He was struggling with what he had done,” he said.

“He was talking about (Mr Kirmond’s) kids being on their own for Christmas, having no dad for Christmas.

“I used to go every morning to check on him and try to get him up to go for a coffee, but the week before we couldn’t get him up.”

It was said that Mr Robinson had been deemed at high risk of suicide when he was first incarcerated, meaning he was subject to round-the-clock observations from prison staff.

However, in the months leading up to his death, the frequency of the checks decreased because his state was deemed to have improved.

The inquest, which is being observed by a jury because Mr Robinson died in custody, continues.

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