Gran regrets taking killer to scene, court hears

The grandmother of a man who killed his best friend on Christmas Eve wishes she had never taken him to the house where it happened, a court has heard.

Dylan Thomas, 24, has admitted the manslaughter of William Bush, 23, in 2023, but denies murder.

Sharon Burton’s police interview was shown to the jury on the second day of the trial at Cardiff Crown Court.

She told police she agreed to drive her grandson from her home in Rhoose, Vale of Glamorgan, to the house he shared with Mr Bush on Chapel Street in Llandaff, Cardiff, because he wanted to check on his dog, Bruce.

On the journey, Mrs Burton described him being "agitated" and said he sent several texts.

She parked outside the property and made a phone call while Mr Thomas went inside.

The prosecution said he then armed himself with two knives and went up two flights of stairs to Mr Bush’s bedroom, where he stabbed him in the back of the neck.

Mr Bush sustained a total of 37 stab wounds.

Mrs Burton told detectives she was startled by Mr Thomas outside her car and he was "banging on the window and he was covered in blood".

"He was in such a state. Screaming. Screaming. He kept saying. ‘I think he’s dead’," she added.

"I handed the phone to Dylan and said: 'Phone the police, phone the ambulance'. It felt like an age before I heard the sirens."

Mrs Burton found a wounded Mr Bush on the patio and began to give him CPR.

"I thought Will was still alive, his eyes were open... I prayed he was going to be OK and I didn’t stop," she said.

In the video interview, she broke down in tears, saying: "I should never have taken him."

The police officer conducting the interview told her not to blame herself.

"I never in a million years envisaged anything like that with Dylan because he’s such a quiet reserved boy," she said.

Mrs Burton then gave evidence via videolink from another room in the court.

Under cross-examination by Orlando Pownall KC, for the defence, Mrs Burton recalled a discussion about teleportation with her grandson earlier last December.

"Which I didn’t really understand," she said, adding he also spoke about witches.

"He asked did we believe in illuminati. He was right into it, silly things," she said.

"It was a very strange conversation."

A pre-recorded video interview with John Ivins, who was having coffee with his family in Llandaff when William Bush was killed, was also shown to the jury.

"We heard someone shouting 'help me'," he said in the interview.

"It sounded serious. Not being nosy it sounded like someone was in trouble."

He described seeing a man on all fours, and that there was a lot of blood, with someone else standing in the property’s French windows.

"They seemed to get up and scuffle," said Mr Ivins.

"I probably didn’t believe what I saw.

"I didn’t expect to see a pool of blood and someone with a knife."

Police body worn camera footage was also shown to the jury.

In the footage officers are seen putting Mr Thomas into the back of a police van.

He is checked for injuries and to determine whether he is carrying any weapons.

Mr Thomas told officers to keep an eye on the house, saying the last time he interacted with the police "they planted coke", he said.

When officers tell him he is being arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, he told them it was "self-defence".

The trial continues.