Llandaff: Christmas Eve manslaughter defendant spoke of murder

A man who killed his housemate in Cardiff on Christmas Eve had previously told him he had thought about murdering him, a court has heard.

Dylan Thomas, 24, has pleaded guilty to the involuntary manslaughter of William Bush, 24, in December 2023, but denies murder.

Cardiff Crown Court heard the pair met at school at Christ College in Brecon and had been friends ever since.

Mr. Bush was popular, but “Dylan Thomas had few friends and was viewed as something of a loner,” Gregory Bull KC said in the prosecution, adding his “only real friend was the deceased.”

The court heard the couple lived together in a house on Chapel Street in Llandaff.

The “dynamics” of their close friendship began to change when Mr. Bush got a girlfriend and planned to move in with her.

In late October, Mr. Bush told his girlfriend, Ella Jeffries, that he had barricaded himself in his bedroom one evening after a discussion with Mr. Thomas.

The court was told Mr Thomas said to Mr Bush: “I've been thinking about it and thinking about killing you. I just wanted to see what would happen if I did certain things.”

Mr. Bush told his girlfriend that it scared him.

On December 23, Mr Thomas traveled to Rhoose, Vale of Glamorgan, to visit his grandmother.

Mr Bush had planned to spend that evening with his girlfriend and then Christmas with his family in Brecon.

At his grandmother's house, Mr Thomas appeared unsettled, the court was told.

Mr Bull said that at 12.36am on Christmas Eve Mr Thomas did a search on his computer for “anatomy of the neck” and then at 2.42am he texted Mr Bush saying he needed to see him , before he goes to Brecon for Christmas.

Mr Bull said this suggested Mr Thomas formed an intention to kill William Bush.

At 3.31am Mr Thomas tried to book an Uber taxi to take him to Chapel Street but was unsuccessful.

The next morning his grandmother Sharon Burton agreed to drive Mr Thomas to Llandaff because he said he wanted to walk the dog.

Ms Burton described him becoming “more and more agitated” as he drove and sending several text messages.

She parked in front of the property while Mr. Thomas went inside.

Prosecutors say he then armed himself with two knives, a large kitchen knife and another punch knife, and went up two flights of stairs to Mr. Bush's bedroom, where an attack began.

Mr Bush suffered a total of 37 stab wounds, including 13 on the front and side of his neck, eight on the back of his neck, seven on the front of his torso and eight on his rear torso.

He also suffered a cut to his face, a cut to his ear and 13 cuts to his left hand.

Ms Burton, who suffers from hearing loss, then saw Mr Thomas desperately banging on the window of her car.

“Passers-by heard screams of terror coming from the address,” Mr Bull said.

Ms Burton then found a wounded Mr Bush on the terrace outside the property and began to resuscitate him.

Jurors were shown police body-worn camera footage in which Mr Thomas, wearing a heavily bloodstained top, told police he had been injured and had acted in self-defence.

The recordings also showed Mr. Thomas telling police that Mr. Bush was dead and that he had disarmed him.

“This was a planned attack,” Mr Bull said, “He deliberately armed himself with knives and attacked him from behind.”

Mr Bull told the jury that Mr Thomas is being treated for schizophrenia at Ashworth High Secure Hospital on Merseyside, from where he can be seen via videolink.

Mr Thomas denies murder and the trial continues.