Pie company fortune heir murdered his best friend in 'barbaric' attack

A man who murdered his best friend on Christmas Eve has been sentenced to life in prison for his “barbaric and cruel” crime.

Dylan Thomas, the heir to a pie company fortune, stabbed to death William Bush, 23, at a house in Llandaff, Cardiff, on December 24, 2023. Thomas, 24, is the grandson of pie company tycoon Sir Stanley Thomas.

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. A consultant forensic psychiatrist has said Thomas may have been having a psychotic episode during the attack.

Thomas 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, a court heard. His grandmother sat in the car while he went inside, but he returned minutes later, banging on the window covered in blood.

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.

It was a 'barbaric crime', according to a victim impact statement read by Mr Bush's sister, Catrin, who spoke on behalf of herself and her brother Alex.

“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,