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.
READ MORE: Brutal killer of defenceless teenage boy set to be freed leaving victim's father 'disgusted'
Among the group were Joel Taylor and Joshua Thomas, later convicted of Ben’s murder, and Andrew Rafferty, who served time behind bars for robbery after his earlier manslaughter conviction was quashed. After exchanging names at an all-night Texaco garage in Blackpill, Ben joined the group and used his debit card to draw out £20, which he used to buy four Pot Noodles. CCTV images picked up the group, with the last footage of Ben seen on CCTV from the Shell garage further on.
The group talked about going to nightclub Top Banana but the congenial atmosphere changed dramatically – with tragic consequences. Near to Swansea’s seafront war memorial, and without warning, Taylor aimed a punch at Ben, who bumped into Thomas.
The two started hitting, punching and kicking Ben, who was making desperate attempts to flee. Ben shouted out his pin number and told his attackers: “Take what you want.” But the killers carried on hitting him. While Rafferty took the bank card to a cashpoint near Walter Road, Taylor and Thomas continued to beat Ben unconscious.
They then stripped him naked, leaving only socks on the boy’s body, before they dragged him across the beach, took him to waist depth in the sea beyond the surf zone, and let him go. Ben drowned soon afterwards after the beating he had received left him unable to escape the water.
The next day, 65-year-old jogger Edward Jenkins was running on the beach at 9am. He saw what he thought was a tailor’s dummy lying on the foreshore in front of the city’s St Helen’s sports ground.
On closer inspection, he found it was the body of a virtually naked teenager, washed up with the driftwood. The teenage boy was lying on his side “looking just like he was sleeping” but he was dusted in sand and his body was covered in bruises. The boy was Ben.
As a result of the assault, Ben’s face was so swollen his mother could not recognise him. Marks from the soles of Thomas’s Levi trainers were found imprinted on his skin.
Following a trial at Swansea Crown Court, Taylor and Thomas were found guilty of murdering Ben while Rafferty was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to a minimum of five years. Taylor was sentenced to a minimum of 22 years and Thomas was jailed for a minimum of 18 years. Rafferty's conviction was later quashed by the Court of Appeal where judges decided he should instead serve seven years in prison for robbery.
Speaking at the sentencing of her son’s killers, Ben’s mother Tracy said: “I don’t want people to feel sorry for me because I am still here. It is Ben I want people to feel sorry for. He was the most wonderful, caring, sensitive person.”
In 2017 Joel Taylor tried and failed to have his sentence cut, which would have meant an earlier chance of parole. But after hearing of Taylor’s continued denial that he intended to kill Ben, the judge, Mr Justice Julian Knowles, upheld the term, saying: “In light of his denials, I cannot conclude that he has truly accepted his responsibility. He led an horrific, unprovoked attack on a young man on his way home. Having been battered relentlessly, Mr Bellamy was carried into the sea in a helpless state and drowned.”
Also in 2017 Rafferty, who had been released from his prison sentence, found himself back behind bars. He was handed a three-year prison sentence after being caught in possession of cocaine and crack in a bar in Stoke-on-Trent city centre.
In September, 2019, it was reported that Thomas was being moved to an open prison to pave the way for his eventual release, a decision which Ben's dad, John, 53, described at the time as 'just another insult'.
He said back then: “Ben was a lovely boy. I am just as angry now as after the day it happened. It’s just not supposed to happen to anyone - it’s every parent’s worse nightmare.
“The pain never goes away, I think about him every day. It’s not fair on Ben, it’s insult after insult - it’s disgusting.”
The Parole Board said this month (June, 2023) the release plan for Thomas included a requirement for him to live in designated accommodation as well as "strict limitations" on his "contacts, movements, and activities". Its report continued: "The panel concluded this plan was robust enough to manage Mr Thomas in the community at this stage."
In conclusion, the panel found his imprisonment was "no longer necessary for the protection of the public". Thomas must stick to licence conditions, including disclosing "developing relationships", reporting for supervision, taking drug tests, and adhering to a curfew. He will be restricted from interacting with "named contacts" and there will be a "wide exclusion zone to avoid contact with victims."
In 2019, we reported how The Conservatives set out in their manifesto a pledge to reform the parole system to better serve victims. They also intended to open up parole hearings to the media. Calls were made to call any change in legislation Ben’s Law, as it would aim to ensure that no-one would suffer the fate of his family, who claimed they had failed to be fully informed that Thomas was coming up before the Parole Board back then, and instead found out through the media. You can read more about that by clicking here.
