Pie fortune heir jailed for 19 years for stabbing his best friend to death in 'barbaric' attack
24 January 2025, 12:07 | Updated: 24 January 2025, 13:27
The heir to a pie company fortune has been sentenced to life in prison for stabbing his best friend to death in a "frenzied" attack.
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William Bush, 23, was killed by Dylan Thomas, his childhood friend and the grandson of pie company tycoon Sir Stanley Thomas, at their home in Llandaff, Cardiff, on December 24, 2023.
Thomas, now 24, had been staying at his grandmother's house in Rhoose, in the Vale of Glamorgan, the night before he attacked Mr Bush, when he begged her to take him back to his house, insisting he wanted to walk his dog, Bruce.
His grandmother sat in the car while he went inside, but he returned minutes later, banging on the window covered in blood.
Thomas stabbed his friend 37 times - including to the neck, chest, head and back - and people on the street described screams of "horror" from inside the house.
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The court heard that Thomas had searched online for the anatomy of the neck before going back to the house.
He was sentenced to life imprisonment on Friday at Cardiff Crown Court and ordered to serve a minimum of 19 years.
In a victim impact statement, Mr Bush's sister Catrin spoke on behalf of herself and her brother Alex - describing her brother's death as a "barbaric crime".
"Will's life was taken away from him on December 24, 2023 in the most barbaric and cruel way," Ms Bush said.
"Will was innocently getting things sorted to return back to Brecon to spend Christmas with us as a family.
"But instead of Will returning home for dinner on Christmas Eve, it was Dyfed-Powys Police knocking on our door informing us that Will had died.
"I cannot put into words how traumatic and awful this experience was, and I still have intense moments of panic when I think about this.
"Myself and Alex cannot begin to comprehend the fear and suffering that Will endured on that day"We are truly haunted from the horror of it and this will live with us forever."
Ms Bush said she did not have the words to describe her feelings towards Thomas for murdering her brother.
"You have shown no remorse or respect during this entire process," she said.
"I don't know how someone could be so cruel, manipulative, heartless and evil.
"You inflicted so much suffering on our innocent little brother, Will, and you have taken Will's bright future away from him.
"I hope you'll never be released back into the community and you live out the rest of your years in prison."
Thomas appeared before the court by video link from Ashworth Hospital in Liverpool, where he is being treated for schizophrenia.
He sat emotionless, speaking only to confirm he could hear the judge.
His grandfather, Sir Stanley, the founder of Peter's Pies - whose net worth was estimated to be £230 million in 2013, sat in court throughout the sentencing.
Mr Bush, a keen golfer who played for his country, had been friends with Thomas since they were about 13, having met at Christ College Brecon, a private boarding and day school in mid-Wales.
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 also heard Thomas had been arrested for breaking into Buckingham Palace a few months before the attack on Mr Bush.
Thomas told officers he was looking for "energy fields" between the Palace and Cleopatra's Needle, an obelisk in central London.
He was rugby-tackled by an officer after he told them he was "over now so you may as well show me round".
