Dylan Thomas: Grandson of pie company tycoon jailed over murder of friend in ‘frenzied attack’
The grandson of a pie company tycoon who killed his best friend in a “frenzied attack” on Christmas Eve has been sentenced.
Dylan Thomas, 24, killed William Bush, 23, at the property they shared in the Llandaff area of Cardiff on 24 December 2023.
Thomas had admitted manslaughter by diminished responsibility but denied Mr Bush’s murder.
At Cardiff Crown Court in November, a jury of 10 men and two women found him guilty of murder.
On Friday he was handed a life sentence, with a minimum term of 19 years imprisonment, minus the time he has already spent in custody.
Mr Bush sustained 37 stab wounds in total, including 21 to the neck, and his cause of death was given as “multiple stab wounds to the neck and trunk”.
The court heard Thomas used two knives – a kitchen knife and flick knife – in the attack on Mr Bush.
Thomas, who the trial heard has schizophrenia, had claimed in the immediate aftermath of the attack that he was acting in self-defence.
He is the grandson of Sir Stanley Thomas, the founder of Peter’s Pies, a company based in South Wales.
Dylan Thomas. Pic: South Wales Police
Reading a victim impact statement, Mr Bush’s sister Catrin said her brother’s life was taken “in the most barbaric and cruel way”.
“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,” she said.
Ms Bush said her family could not “begin to comprehend the fear and suffering that Will endured on that day”.
“Will was such a loyal, funny and caring person. He lit up every room he walked into with his cheeky grin and quick-witted humour,” she added.
“I sat through as much of the trial as I could bear, as you can imagine some of the evidence was too heartbreaking for me to sit through.”
William Bush. Pic: South Wales Police
William Bush’s father, John David Bush, told the court he couldn’t attend any of the previous hearings but was “determined” to attend the sentencing.
“The instinct of all parents is to love and protect our children and to keep them safe, but we were not able to do this and this haunts us every day,” he said.
“All aspects of his life, and indeed his body, have been dissected. He has had no privacy in death.”
Mr Bush added: “His life was short, but he had, and continues to have, meaning.
“Imagine all the things that you would have missed if you had died at 23. Marriage, children, family, the daily joys of the life.”
Catrin Bush, sister of William Bush, spoke outside Cardiff Crown Court upon the verdict
In her victim impact statement, Mr Bush’s long-term girlfriend Ella Jeffries said he was “petrified of dying” and his death had “left an indescribable pain and a darkness in [her] life”.
“Will was the love of my life and meant everything to me,” she said. “Life will never be the same without Will.”
In mitigation, Orlando Pownall KC said Thomas was a “young man” at the time of the offence and has “no previous convictions”.
Mr Pownall also cited Thomas’s mental illness, after his trial heard he lived with schizophrenia.
Handing down her sentence, Mrs Justice Steyn said Thomas murdered Mr Bush in a “sustained and ferocious knife attack”.
She said Mr Bush was “senselessly murdered and deprived of many, many decades of a happy and fulfilling life”.
“The sentence I will pass is not intended as a measure of the value of Will’s life, that is beyond measure,” she added.
She said the “frenzied attack” was persistent in nature and “must have terrified the deceased and caused him great pain and distress”.
Mrs Justice Steyn thanked those who had brought Thomas to justice and paid tribute to Mr Bush’s family for their “dignity, fortitude and restraint”.
Read more from Sky News:
The 14 minutes of terror that left three children dead
Woman jailed for causing eight-month-old baby’s death
Detective Constable Joanne Harris from South Wales Police said the force’s thoughts were with Mr Bush, his family and girlfriend.
“While we recognise that Dylan Thomas’ 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,” she said.
Chris Evans from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said the level of violence inflicted upon Mr Bush was “terrifying” and “led to the tragic death of a young man”.
UK
Teenager living in ‘continuous pain’ after surgeon Dr Yaser Jabbar carried out ‘inappropriate’ operations
A 15-year-old boy who was operated on twice by a now unlicensed Great Ormond Street surgeon is living with “continuous” pain.
Finias Sandu has been told by an independent review the procedures he underwent on both his legs were “unacceptable” and “inappropriate” for his age.
The teenager from Essex was born with a condition that causes curved bones in his legs.
Aged seven, a reconstructive procedure was carried out on Finias’s left leg, lengthening the limb by 3.5cm.
A few years later, the same operation was carried out on his right leg which involved wearing an invasive and heavy metal frame for months.
He has now been told by independent experts these procedures should not have taken place and concerns have been raised over a lack of imaging being taken prior to the operations.
Yaser Jabbar rescinded his UK medical licence last year. Pic: LinkedIn
His doctor at London’s prestigious Great Ormond Street Hospital was former consultant orthopaedic surgeon Yaser Jabbar. Sky News has spoken to others he treated.
Mr Jabbar also did not arrange for updated scans or for relevant X-rays to be conducted ahead of the procedures.
The surgeries have been found to have caused Finias “harm” and left him in constant pain.
“The pain is there every day, every day I’m continuously in pain,” he told Sky News.
“It’s not something really sharp, although it does get to a certain point where it hurts quite a lot, but it’s always there. It just doesn’t leave, it’s a companion to me, just always there.”
Read more:
Girl who had leg amputated suffered harm during surgeon’s care
Child, 11, in wheelchair after surgeon’s operations
Hospital accused of ‘covering up’ concerns about suspended surgeon
Finias’s surgery pictures
Care of over 700 patients being assessed
Mr Jabbar rescinded his UK medical licence in January last year after working at Great Ormond Street between 2017 and 2022.
The care of his 700-plus patients is being assessed, with some facing corrective surgery, among them Finias.
“Trusting somebody is hard to do, knowing what they have done to me physically and emotionally, you know, it’s just too much to comprehend for me,” he said.
“It wasn’t something just physically, like my leg pain and everything else. It was emotionally, because I put my trust in that specific doctor. My parents and I don’t really understand the more scientific terms, we just went by what he said.”
Doctors refused to treat Finias because of his surgeries
Finias and his family relocated to their native Romania soon after the reconstructive frame was removed from his right leg in the summer of 2021.
The pain worsened and they sought advice from doctors in Romania, who refused to treat Finias because of the impact of his surgeries.
Dozens of families seeking legal claims
His mother Cornelia Sandu is “furious” and feels her trust in the hospital has been shattered. They are now among dozens of families seeking legal claims.
Cyrus Plaza from Hudgell Solicitors is representing the family. He said: “In cases where it has been identified that harm was caused, we want to see Great Ormond Street Hospital agreeing to pay interim payments of compensation for the children, so that if they need therapy or treatment now, they can access it.”
Finias is accessing therapy and mental health support as he prepares for corrective surgery later in the year.
A spokesperson for Great Ormond Street Hospital told Sky News: “We are deeply sorry to Finias and his family, and all the patients and families who have been impacted.
“We want every patient and family who comes to our hospital to feel safe and cared for. We will always discuss concerns families may have and, where they submit claims, we will work to ensure the legal process can be resolved as quickly as possible.”
Finias with his mother and sister
Service not ‘safe for patients’
Sky News has attempted to contact Mr Jabbar.
An external review into the wider orthopaedic department at the hospital began in September 2022.
It was commissioned after the Royal College of Surgeons warned the hospital’s lower limb reconstruction service was not “safe for patients or adequate to meet demand”.
The investigation is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
Sir Keir Starmer has said closer ties with the EU will be good for the UK’s jobs, bills and borders ahead of a summit where he could announce a deal with the bloc.
The government is set to host EU leaders in London on Monday as part of its efforts to “reset” relations post-Brexit.
A deal granting the UK access to a major EU defence fund could be on the table, according to reports – but disagreements over a youth mobility scheme and fishing rights could prove to be a stumbling block.
The prime minister has appeared to signal a youth mobility deal could be possible, telling The Times that while freedom of movement is a “red line”, youth mobility does not come under this.
His comment comes after Kaja Kallas, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs, said on Friday work on a defence deal was progressing but “we’re not there yet”.
Sir Keir met European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen later that day while at a summit in Albania.
Ursula von der Leyen and Sir Keir had a brief meeting earlier this week. Pic: PA
If agreed, the deal will be the third in two weeks, following trade agreements with India and the US.
Sir Keir said: “First India, then the United States – in the last two weeks alone that’s jobs saved, faster growth and wages rising.
“More money in the pockets of British working people, achieved through striking deals not striking poses.
“Tomorrow, we take another step forward, with yet more benefits for the United Kingdom as the result of a strengthened partnership with the European Union.”
Read more:
Humza Yousaf hits out at Starmer’s ‘dog whistle’ stance on immigration
MPs criticise terminally ill Esther Rantzen’s assisted dying intervention
👉 Click here to follow Electoral Dysfunction wherever you get your podcasts 👈
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has said she is “worried” about what the PM might have negotiated.
Ms Badenoch – who has promised to rip up the deal with the EU if it breaches her red lines on Brexit – said: “Labour should have used this review of our EU trade deal to secure new wins for Britain, such as an EU-wide agreement on Brits using e-gates on the continent.
“Instead, it sounds like we’re giving away our fishing quotas, becoming a rule-taker from Brussels once again and getting free movement by the back door. This isn’t a reset, it’s a surrender.”
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business3 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway