The heir to a pie company fortune has been sentenced to life in prison for the “savage and brutal” murder of his best friend in the same house they shared on Christmas Eve, the BBC reports.
Dylan Thomas, 24, was sentenced to life in prison for the brutal murder of his best friend William Bush, 23, on December 24, 2023. The outlet reported that Thomas stabbed Bush 37 times using a large kitchen knife and a flick. A knife was found at a tenement in Llandaff, Cardiff.
Hours before the attack, Thomas had searched online for neck anatomy. He admitted manslaughter but denied murder.
Mr Thomas, the grandson of Sir Stanley Thomas, whose family founded Peter’s Pies, carried out what prosecutors described as a “premeditated attack”. The jury heard Thomas was on a “downward spiral” but was fully aware of his actions. A few weeks earlier, he had been released on police bail after being arrested for trying to scale the fence at Buckingham Palace.
On the day of the murder, Thomas was driven home by his grandmother, Sharon Barton. After arriving, he retrieved a knife, entered Bush’s bedroom and launched the fatal attack. Passersby reported hearing “screams of terror” coming from the house.
Mr Thomas called 999 after the attack and claimed Mr Bush had become “mentally insane” and had stabbed him. However, prosecutors claimed it was a premeditated assault. Judge Steyn said the murder was “particularly horrific”, noting that Mr Bush was attacked in the safety of his bedroom by someone he trusted.
The court heard from Bush’s grieving family and girlfriend. His sister Katrin described the killing as “barbaric and brutal” and his father John said it had changed the family’s life “tremendously”. Bush’s girlfriend, Ella Jeffries, spoke of the loss of the future they had planned together and called him “the love of my life.”
Thomas’ defense attorneys argued that there was evidence to suggest that Thomas had been mentally unstable in the months before the murders and that he regretted not seeking psychiatric help. After his arrest, Thomas reportedly told officers he was Jesus and offered them a “job with God.”
Chris Evans, from the Crown Prosecution Service, condemned the attack as a “shocking level of violence” and South Wales Police said it was an unprovoked betrayal by someone Bush trusted.
Thomas’ family, which made its fortune in the pie industry in the 1950s, sold its company, Peter’s Food, in 1988.
