Pie fortune heir guilty of best friend's murder

The heir to a pie company fortune has been found guilty of murdering his best friend after stabbing him 37 times on Christmas Eve in the house they shared.

Dylan Thomas killed William Bush, 23, on 24 December 2023, a jury at Cardiff Crown Court decided.

Thomas, 24, who admitted manslaughter but denied murder, had looked up details of the anatomy of the neck in the hours before the attack in Llandaff, Cardiff, armed with a large kitchen knife and a flick knife.

Thomas is the grandson of Sir Stanley Thomas, the founder of south Wales-based Peter's Pies, whose net worth was estimated to be £230m in 2013, and who sat in court throughout the trial.

Dylan Thomas had been arrested weeks earlier for trying to scale the fence at Buckingham Palace, and is being treated for schizophrenia at a secure hospital.

The jury went out to consider its decision on Thursday morning and returned its guilty verdict a few hours later.

Prosecution barrister Greg Bull KC told the court that personal victim impact statements were being prepared, but that the sentence "has to be one of imprisonment".

The judge thanked the jury for the "care" with which they had carried out their task and listened to the "deeply upsetting evidence" during the trial.

Sentencing will be on 16 December.

Speaking outside the court, Catrin Bush, the victim's sister, said the family were completely devastated by the "brutal and senseless murder".

Ms Bush described Thomas as an "evil, manipulative liar" and said the family had seen "no evidence of any remorse or taking responsibility for his actions that day".

"Will was such a loyal, funny, caring and trusting person. He lit up every room he went into with his cheeky grin and quick-witted humour.

"We cannot even begin to comprehend the fear and suffering that Will endured on Christmas Eve last year," she said, explaining how he was preparing to return to his family in Brecon when the attack took place.

"Instead of Will arriving at our door for dinner on Christmas Eve, it was Dyfed-Powys Police to deliver the beyond devastating news.

"We ask that he is remembered as the great person that he was, and that his memory is not defined by this barbaric attack."

South Wales Police Det Insp Rebecca Merchant said after the verdict Mr Bush died just as he was about to move in with his girlfriend and start a new job.

"As he looked forward to spending Christmas with his family and girlfriend, he was killed by someone he regarded as his friend, having done nothing to warrant the brutal violence inflicted upon him," she added.

The prosecution told the trial that Thomas was in a "downward spiral" but in control of his actions at the time of the killing.

The court heard that on the morning of the attack, Thomas' grandmother, Sharon Burton, drove him to Llandaff, and she described him becoming "more and more agitated" and sending several text messages.

When she parked outside the property, Thomas went in, got the knives, went to Mr Bush's bedroom and stabbed him repeatedly.

The prosecution said passers-by "heard screams of horror" from the house.

A distressed Thomas banged on his grandmother's car window and she found Mr Bush on the patio outside.

Thomas claimed in a 999 call after the attack asking for an ambulance that his friend had "gone mental" and stabbed him.

But the prosecution told the trial it was "a planned attack," by Thomas on Mr Bush, and he "deliberately armed himself with knives and attacked him from behind".

The court was given expert opinion that Thomas had been psychotic for months before the killing.

Jurors heard that he told police officers he was Jesus after his arrest for the killing and offered one police officer a "job with God".

Following the earlier arrest at Buckingham Palace he spoke about the "illuminati" running the world.

The court was told that Thomas believed he could harness gravity and told police he was "exploring energy fields" when arrested at Buckingham Palace on 6 November 2023.

Dr Panchu Xavier told jurors that his patient was experiencing psychosis when he was admitted to Ashworth High Secure Hospital, Liverpool, in March 2024.

Thomas and Mr Bush had been friends since they met at school at Christ College in Brecon, Powys.

Mr Bull KC, prosecuting, told the court that while Mr Bush was popular, Thomas had few friends and was viewed as something of a loner.

Orlando Pownall KC, defending, had told the trial there was no question Thomas was psychotic, but said the dispute was over the timings.

Mr Pownall told jurors Thomas had been through "a lot of stressful situations" including his parents' separation, and there was "alleged domestic violence".

The Thomas family company was launched as Thomas Pies in the 1950s, selling sausage rolls, pies and pasties around the south Wales valleys.

In the 1970s it became Peter's Pies, and is now known as Peter's Food, based in Bedwas in Caerphilly county.

It was founded by the late Stan Thomas, who passed it on to his sons Stan junior - Dylan Thomas's grandfather - and Peter, the former chairman of Cardiff RFC rugby club, who died in 2023.

They sold the company in 1988.