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”.
NHS England has warned the health service is facing a “worst case scenario” December with a surge of “super flu”.
The warning comes as new figures revealed the number of people in hospital with flu have increased by more than half in just one week.
Catch up as it happened: NHS warns of ‘worst-case scenario’ as ‘super flu’ surges
Latest figures show:
• An average of 2,660 patients were in hospital per day with flu last week
• This is the highest ever for this time of year and up 55% on last week
• At this point last year the number stood at 1,861 patients, while in 2023 it was just 402
Health service bosses are warning the number of flu patients in hospital has already increased sharply since the week covered by this data – with no peak in sight.
Read more: Why is flu season worse this year?
Virus outbreaks coincide with doctors’ strikes
Weekly flu numbers in England peaked at 5,408 patients last winter and reached 5,441 over the winter of 2022/23, the highest level since the pandemic.
Alongside rocketing flu, the number of norovirus patients in hospital has also risen by 35%.
The NHS is now warning winter viruses are starting to “engulf hospitals”.
Demand for A&Es and ambulance services is also soaring.
New monthly figures show A&E attendances were a record for November at 2.35 million – more than 30,000 higher than November 2024.
In addition, there were 48,814 more ambulance incidents (802,525) compared with last year (753,711).
Some hospitals across the country have asked staff, patients and visitors to wear face masks to cut the spread of flu, while others have gone in and out of critical incident status due to the high number of people attending A&E.
The record-breaking demand on the NHS coincides with a resident doctors’ strike from 17 to 22 December over pay and jobs – sparking fears of major disruption for patients in the run up to Christmas.
People are being advised to attend any planned appointments scheduled during the strikes unless they have been contacted to reschedule.
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Will doctors accept late deal to avoid strikes?
Flu vaccinations on the up… who can get one?
The NHS is urging anyone eligible to get their flu vaccination to help prevent them getting seriously ill.
Latest figures show more than 17.4 million people have been vaccinated so far this year, more than 381,000 higher than last year.
You can get it if you:
• Are 65 or over in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
• Are pregnant
• Live in a care home
• Are the main carer for an older or disabled person, or receive carer’s allowance
• Live with someone who has a weakened immune system
• Are a frontline health and social care worker
• Are of school age
• Have certain medical conditions (the NHS has a full list)
Wes Streeting, the health secretary, warned of a “tidal wave of flu tearing through our hospitals”.
“We are working with the NHS to make sure it is able to cope with this as best as possible,” he said.
Warning ‘extremely challenging few weeks ahead’
Professor Meghana Pandit, NHS national medical director, warned the health service faces “an extremely challenging few weeks ahead” with “staff being pushed to the limit”.
She said: “With record demand for A&E and ambulances and an impending resident doctors’ strike, this unprecedented wave of super flu is leaving the NHS facing a worst-case scenario for this time of year – with staff being pushed to the limit to keep providing the best possible care for patients.
“The numbers of patients in hospital with flu is extremely high for this time of year. Even worse, it continues to rise and the peak is not in sight yet, so the NHS faces an extremely challenging few weeks ahead.”
She added: “We have prepared earlier for winter than ever before, and stress-tested services to ensure people have a range of ways to get the help they need and avoid needing to go to A&E.
“For non-life-threatening care, people should call NHS 111 or use 111 online, which can direct you to the most appropriate place, and use A&E and 999 for life threatening conditions and serious injuries.”
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Mr Streeting has offered the British Medical Association (BMA) a last-minute deal in the hope doctors will call off the walkout, which starts next Wednesday.
The doctors’ union has agreed to put the offer to members over the coming day, and is expected to announced a decision on Monday, just two days before the planned strike.
The offer includes a fast expansion of specialist training posts as well as covering out-of-pocket expenses such as exam fees, but does not include extra pay.
The spread of subclade K, the super flu, is picking up – and it’s not looking good for the NHS.
An average of just under 2,700 hospital beds a day in England were occupied by patients with flu last week.
There are fears that could jump to somewhere between 5,000 and 8,000 by the end of this week.
That’s on top of COVID and RSV.
And with the possibility of a five-day strike by resident (junior) doctors next week, it’s a perfect storm for hospitals.
An NHS hospital ward at Ealing Hospital in London. Pic: PA
Christmas flu
Children are the super-spreaders of flu. It races around classrooms and some schools have temporarily shut because of the impact.
The Christmas holidays aren’t far off. They are likely to put the brakes on children passing around the virus.
But it’s also a time of year when families mix with elderly relatives, who are more likely to be hit hard by the infection – perhaps even needing hospital care.
So while the holidays may temporarily slow the overall rise in infections, the impact on hospitals could get much worse.
File pic: PA
Subclade K
Flu is spreading so rapidly at the moment because immunity to subclade K from previous infections and vaccinations is low.
The virus – a variant of the H3N2 flu strain – suddenly acquired seven new mutations in late summer.
Every 100 people infected with seasonal flu would typically pass the virus on to 120 others.
With subclade K, it’s 140.
And that’s why cases are rising so quickly on the charts.
At the moment, 18 in every 100,000 patients in England are consulting their GP with flu-like symptoms. That’s still well short of the peak of around 50 in every 100,000 in 2017/18, the worst flu outbreak in recent years.
File pic: PA
The grim reality of flu
Flu is a really unpleasant disease, nothing like a cold. I’ve had it twice in my life and it physically hurt to get out of bed. It’s grim.
Most people get over it with a few days’ rest and paracetamol to take the edge off the fever.
But vulnerable people can become seriously ill. In the outbreak of 2017/18, around 22,000 died.
Read more:
Nurses ‘deeply concerned about what lies ahead’
NHS braced for ‘toughest winter’ after record-breaking month
That’s why the NHS is urging people in certain groups – the over 65s, those with underlying health conditions, pregnant women, carers and children – to get the jab.
The vaccine isn’t a great match for subclade K, but still reduces the chance of hospital admission by 30-40% in adults.
It’s impossible to say when the spread will peak, but the latest figures suggest the outbreak is far from over.
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