A man who was cleared of killing his wife at a chip shop they ran together in rural Carmarthenshire has died. Geoffrey Bran lived in the village of Hermon, around eight miles south of the town of Newcastle Emlyn, where he had previously run The Chipoteria, a small chip shop situated on land next to the family home.
On October 23, 2018, his wife Mavis Bran, who he lived with and ran the business with, suffered horrendous burns at the takeaway following an incident involving scalding hot oil. Mrs Bran was taken to Morriston Hospital in Swansea where she died from her injuries six days later, on October 29, 2018.
Mr Bran, aged 70 at the time, was subsequently charged with the murder of his wife, aged 69, after being accused of throwing the oil over her inside the chip shop after an argument. However, Mr Bran denied throwing the oil and said that his wife accidentally slipped and pulled it over herself while working. To get the latest Carmarthenshire stories sent directly to you for free, click here.
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A murder trial was due to be held at Swansea Crown Court in May, 2019, but was postponed due to Mr Bran’s ill health, which also allowed him to return home on bail having previously been remanded in custody while he awaited trial.
The trial did eventually take place in November of that year and, after five hours of jury deliberation, Mr Bran was found not guilty of both murder and manslaughter. You can read full details of the court case here.
More than three and a half years after the incident, and more than two and a half years since the court case, Mr Bran died at Glangwili Hospital in Carmarthen on June 1, his family has confirmed. A tribute from the family said that he died peacefully and that he was a “beloved husband of the late Mavis, devoted father of Richard, Rhiannon and Rhidian, much loved grandfather, respected father-in-law, also a dear brother”.
They added that he would be “sadly missed by all his family and many friends”. Mr Bran’s funeral will take place on Friday (June 17) at Parc Gwyn Crematorium in Narberth at 1.45pm. The family has asked that only family members provide flowers, but donations in lieu can be made to the Wales Air Ambulance.
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