Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
National
Steven Morris

Heir to pie fortune found guilty of murdering best friend in Cardiff

William Bush with Dylan Thomas on holiday together when they were younger
William Bush, left, and Dylan Thomas became friends at school and were sharing a house in Llandaff, Cardiff, at the time of Bush’s murder. Photograph: Wales news service

The heir to a pie company fortune has been found guilty of the murder of his best friend on Christmas Eve.

Dylan Thomas, 24, the grandson of the pie company tycoon Sir Stanley Thomas, killed his friend William Bush, 23, at their home in Llandaff, Cardiff.

Thomas had previously admitted manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility but was found guilty of murder on Thursday after a week-long trial at Cardiff crown court.

Stanley Thomas, the founder of Peter’s Pies and whose wealth is estimated at more than £200m, sat in court throughout the trial.

The court heard that Dylan Thomas had been staying at his grandmother’s house, just outside Cardiff in the Vale of Glamorgan, the night before he attacked Bush. He told his grandmother, Sharon Burton, that he wanted to go back to the house he shared with Bush to walk his dog, Bruce.

Burton sat in the car on 24 December 2023 while Thomas went inside, before returning minutes later, banging on the window covered in blood. She carried out CPR on Bush until paramedics arrived.

Bush sustained 37 stab wounds in the attack, including 16 to the neck, and people on the street described “horror screams” from inside the house.

The jury heard that, before going to the house from his grandmother’s, Thomas had researched the anatomy of the neck online.

Thomas and Bush had been friends since they were about 13, having met at Christ College Brecon, a private school in mid-Wales. The defendant was described to the jury as being “something of a loner”, while Bush was more outgoing and active.

Thomas appeared before the court on Thursday by videolink from Ashworth High Secure hospital, Liverpool, where he is being treated for schizophrenia. He looked impassive as the verdict was read.

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 heard that Thomas had been arrested for trying to enter Buckingham Palace a few months before the attack. Thomas told officers he was looking for “energy fields” between the palace and Cleopatra’s Needle, an obelisk in central London.

The court was told that in the months before the attack Thomas had confessed to his friend that he had thought about killing him.

Bush’s girlfriend, Ella Jefferies, told the court her partner had barricaded his door, fearing Thomas would enter.

The prosecutor, Greg Bull KC, said the motive of the killing was “hidden”. He said: “To all intents and purposes, they were good friends and that’s one of the mysteries of this case, we don’t know what caused Dylan Thomas to act in the way he did.”

The defence argued Thomas was mentally unwell at the time, insisting there was a “gamut” of signs of psychosis, but the prosecution said he had shown “clear thinking” before the attack.

Bull said Thomas was in a “downward spiral” while Bush was achieving success with a job, girlfriend and plans to buy or rent a house.

Outside the court, Bush’s sister, Catrin, said: “My family have been completely devastated by the brutal and senseless murder of our much loved Will. Words cannot describe the impact this has had on our family.

“Will was innocently getting ready to return back to Brecon to spend Christmas with us all when the attack took place, and instead of Will arriving at our door for dinner on Christmas Eve, it was Dyfed Powys police to deliver the beyond-devastating news.

“Dylan Thomas is an evil, manipulative liar. We have seen no evidence of any remorse or taking responsibility for his actions that day. We can only hope that he will never be released back into the community.”

Thomas will be sentenced on 16 December.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.