Man who murdered partner jailed for 20 years

A man has been jailed for life after he was found guilty of "brutally" murdering his partner.

Alcwyn Thomas, 44, claimed that Victoria Thomas, 45, died during "make up sex" in a spare bedroom where she had asked to be choked.

Thomas admitted manslaughter but denied murder at their home in Caerphilly Road, Cardiff.

He will serve a minimum of 19 years and 121 days.

It took a jury at Cardiff Crown Court four and a half hours to convict him after a trial lasting almost two weeks.

After drinking heavily and taking cocaine, Thomas strangled his partner in a spare bedroom at the home they shared.

The pair had been in a relationship for four years but were not married.

Victoria Thomas' son Cole told the court her ex-partner had, "reduced an incredible woman to a box of ashes".

Wearing a suit and a pink flower, Cole stared at the defendant and told the court he was 15 when he moved in.

He said Thomas made "no effort to share his life".

He said he "felt that we lost mum very quickly to Alcwyn - and felt helpless".

He said he would have "no mum to guide me through success or failure, marriage" and added he would never be able to call her or send her videos that she would enjoy.

"My mum was my best friend and our connection was beyond words," he said.

Cole said the "disgusting" way in which Thomas "chose to take my mother's life has left images in my head that will never leave me".

Cole said he slept at night with his mother's ashes next to him.

Victoria Thomas' other son Shane, 18, said he was reading the statement less than a month after his 18th birthday.

He said he felt an "overwhelming feeling of absence".

He had passed his driving test the day before his mother's funeral and said his mother would never see him get married, have a kid or buy his first home.

Her father Robert said in a statement his life and that of Victoria's mother "fell apart" following the murder.

He said it was, "so painful and beyond words".

Robert Thomas said he had suffered a heart attack in January because of the distress of what had happened.

Her mother, Gillian Thomas said Victoria was her "precious baby girl".

She said: "What gave you the right to stop her heart from beating?"

She said she had an "ache in my heart from missing her that will never go away".

Judge Tracey Lloyd-Clarke said on Thursday: "You have caused immeasurable and overwhelming grief to Ms Thomas' family".

She said it was clear that something had happened to cause Victoria Thomas to be "frightened" of him.

She said he followed Ms Thomas upstairs, "and on her son's bed you strangled her to death".

"At no time did you express any sorrow or remorse for your actions", she said.

Mandy Wintle of the Crown Prosecution Service said: "Everyone should feel safe in their own home, and any allegation of domestic abuse is taken very seriously."

During the trial, the jury heard that the defendant had been out with Ms Thomas during the day of 20 August 2024.

They had visited pubs before going to a bingo hall. He had drunk around 16 pints of lager and taken cocaine.

One witness told the court he was "not really himself and looked through me" whilst at the bingo, said he was "angry and hot headed".

The defendant had admitted that he and Ms Thomas were "bickering" whilst out, but said that was "nothing unusual. We never had a screaming match".

The court heard that on the night, Ms Thomas had sent expletive ridden messages to other family members complaining about how he was behaving.

The couple went home by taxi. Ms Thomas sat in the front whilst Thomas sat in the back.

The taxi driver told the court he was complaining he had lost money and was "rude, drunk and unsteady".

Around an hour and a half after arriving home, Thomas sent a message to his sister saying: "I'm sorry I've done something really bad."

Following 45-year-old Ms Thomas' death, her family described her as "much-loved", adding that they were "broken" by her loss and "will miss her forever".