The convicted killer of teenager Ben Bellamy is set to be freed after a parole board decided he had made "progress" behind bars. Joshua Declan Thomas then aged 15, was among the youths who viciously punched, kicked, and stamped on Ben after luring him to the beach. This is what happened that dreadful night.
In the early hours of the morning on September 18, 2005, Olchfa Comprehensive A-level student Ben Bellamy was making his way back from The Pier in Swansea, known to locals as “Cinders”. He had previously nagged his mother, Tracy Gwynn, to let him go to the nightspot. She later said: “I felt guilty because he was almost 18. I said ‘Yes’.”
When The Pier shut at 2am Ben allowed his friends to get into a taxi and decided to walk to his home in Sketty Park, five or six miles away. On his way home he bumped into a group of 15, 16, and 17-year-old boys who were drunkenly making their way home from Mumbles. You can get more Swansea news and other story updates straight to your inbox by subscribing to our newsletters here.
