National News

Pie company fortune heir sentenced to life in prison for best friends murder

today 2

Background
share close

Pie company fortune heir sentenced to life in prison for best friend’s murder

The heir to a pie company fortune who murdered his best friend on Christmas Eve has been sentenced to life in prison for his “barbaric and cruel” crime.

William Bush, 23, was killed by Dylan Thomas, his childhood friend and the grandson of pie company tycoon Sir Stanley Thomas, at their home in Llandaff, Cardiff, on December 24, 2023.

Thomas, now 24, had been staying at his grandmother’s house in Rhoose, in the Vale of Glamorgan, the night before he attacked Mr Bush, when he begged her to take him back to his house, insisting he wanted to walk his dog, Bruce.

His grandmother sat in the car while he went inside, but he returned minutes later, banging on the window covered in blood.

Thomas stabbed his friend 37 times – including to the neck, chest, head and back – and people on the street described screams of “horror” from inside the house.

The court heard that Thomas had searched online for the anatomy of the neck before going back to the house.

He was sentenced to life imprisonment on Friday at Cardiff Crown Court and ordered to serve a minimum of 19 years.

In a victim impact statement, Mr Bush’s sister Catrin spoke on behalf of herself and her brother Alex – describing her brother’s death as a “barbaric crime”.

“Will’s life was taken away from him on December 24, 2023 in the most barbaric and cruel way,” Ms Bush said.

“Will was innocently getting things sorted to return back to Brecon to spend Christmas with us as a family.

“But instead of Will returning home for dinner on Christmas Eve, it was Dyfed-Powys Police knocking on our door informing us that Will had died.

“I cannot put into words how traumatic and awful this experience was, and I still have intense moments of panic when I think about this.

“Myself and Alex cannot begin to comprehend the fear and suffering that Will endured on that day.

“We are truly haunted from the horror of it and this will live with us forever.”

Ms Bush said she did not have the words to describe her feelings towards Thomas for murdering her brother.

“You have shown no remorse or respect during this entire process,” she said.

“I don’t know how someone could be so cruel, manipulative, heartless and evil.

“You inflicted so much suffering on our innocent little brother, Will, and you have taken Will’s bright future away from him.

“I hope you’ll never be released back into the community and you live out the rest of your years in prison.”

Thomas appeared before the court by video link from Ashworth Hospital in Liverpool, where he is being treated for schizophrenia.

He sat emotionless, speaking only to confirm he could hear the judge.

His grandfather, Sir Stanley, the founder of Peter’s Pies – whose net worth was estimated to be £230 million in 2013, sat in court throughout the sentencing.

Mr Bush, a keen golfer who played for his country, had been friends with Thomas since they were about 13, having met at Christ College Brecon, a private boarding and day school in mid-Wales.

Mr Bush’s sister described him as a “loyal, funny and caring person” who “lit up every room he walked into with his cheeky grin and quick-witted humour”.

Ella Jefferies, Mr Bush’s partner, told the court they were planning their future lives together when he died.

“To lose a person that you love so unexpectedly and in such a horrific way has left an indescribable pain and a darkness in my life,” she said.

“The chance for Will and I to reach and celebrate milestones in life together, such as marriage, buying a house, having children and continuing to explore life and be happy together, has been taken from us, including the chance for our parents to become grandparents and sisters and brothers become aunties and uncles to our children.

“Will was the love of my life and meant everything to me.”

Mr Bush’s father, John, told Cardiff Crown Court the lives of his family changed overnight when his son died and the effects would stay with them forever.

He added: “The knowledge Will lost his life in the most unnecessary and pitiful manner, not dying as we all would wish, surrounded by those we loved, but 50 years before his time.

“The victim of someone he thought of as a friend, hurts us beyond words. I will not waste any more time on him.”

During the trial, the jury heard from Dr Panchu Xavier, a consultant forensic psychiatrist at Ashworth, who said the defendant could have been having a psychotic episode during the attack and for “up to six months before the event”.

The jury also heard Thomas had been arrested for breaking into Buckingham Palace a few months before the attack on Mr Bush.

Thomas told officers he was looking for “energy fields” between the Palace and Cleopatra’s Needle, an obelisk in central London.

He was rugby-tackled by an officer after he told them he was “over now so you may as well show me round”.

Orlando Pownall KC, defending Thomas, offered no personal mitigation on behalf of the defendant during the sentencing hearing but insisted there was not a “significant degree of planning or premeditation” in the murder.

“What we submit is probably what happened here, a loss of temper and mitigates against a significant amount of planning and premeditation,” Mr Pownall said.

He insisted Thomas was remorseful, which he would express to Mr Bush’s family if given the opportunity.

Passing sentence, Mrs Justice Steyn described the knife attack upon Mr Bush as “sustained and ferocious” and while Thomas’s culpability was lowered by his schizophrenia, it did not amount to a defence in law to murder.

“Will was a talented young man with a bright future ahead of him,” the judge said.

“He did well at school and at university. He was a passionate sportsman and gifted golfer who played for the country.

“He and Ella were planning for a future together. You took a son away from his mother and father, you bereaved the woman he loved with whom he was planning his future.

“You deprived his sister and brother of their young brother.”

She added: “I am satisfied that as a result of your schizophrenia, your ability to form a rational judgment was impaired, albeit not the substantial level required to establish the defence of diminished responsibility.”

Speaking outside the court Detective Constable Joanne Harris, from South Wales Police, said Mr Bush was a “much-loved son, brother and boyfriend with a bright future ahead of him”.

Surrounded by Mr Bush’s family, she said: “On December 24 2023, as he looked forward to spending Christmas with his family and girlfriend, he was killed by someone he regarded as his friend having done nothing to warrant the brutal violence inflicted upon him.

“Whilst we recognise that Dylan Thomas’s sentence of 19 years’ imprisonment won’t bring William back, we do hope that this outcome goes some way to allowing the family to grieve and help in some way with their heartbreak.”

Chris Evans, a senior Crown prosecutor with the Crown Prosecution Service, said Thomas’s actions demonstrated he was thinking clearly and gave an indication of his intent.

“The level of violence was shocking and resulted in the tragic loss of a young man’s life.

“Our thoughts remain with William’s family and friends who have suffered a terrible loss.”

Published: by Radio NewsHub

Written by:

Rate it