drunken nightclub reveller strangled a teenage lady and dumped her physique in a pond after she rebuffed his advances for intercourse, a decide has dominated.
Lewis Haines, 31, murdered Lily Sullivan after he met her inside a nightclub in Pembroke, west Wales, simply earlier than Christmas final 12 months.
The pair had kissed after assembly within the Out nightspot on December 16 and later went to a close-by alleyway collectively the place they grew to become extra intimate.
Swansea Crown Courtroom heard the 18-year-old was later discovered face down and topless within the Mill Pond, a two-mile-long freshwater reservoir close to the city.
After murdering Miss Sullivan, Haines walked previous his sufferer’s mom as she waited to select her daughter up from a close-by storage.
The daddy-of-one has admitted murdering Miss Sullivan however denied sexual misconduct.
However after a trial of details, Decide Paul Thomas QC concluded Haines had killed {the teenager} after she rebuffed his sexual advances.
“It’s clear that Lewis Haines wished to make sure that Lily died. His intention was to silence her,” the decide stated.
“He didn’t need anybody to know what had occurred within the lane.
“I’m certain, nonetheless, having been in that lane for a while with Lily and having had intimate contact along with her up to a degree, Lily determined that she was going house to fulfill her mom.
Mr Haines had a fantastic deal to lose. Causes similar to these for my part clarify why he strangled Lily to be able to stop her telling individuals he had tried to get her to go additional than she was prepared
“She made it clear from the telephone name if nothing else to her mom that she didn’t need the intimacy between her and Lewis Haines to go so far as sexual activity.
“Fuelled as he was by drink, I’m certain that Lewis Haines was pissed off by this as a result of he had expectations and hopes that it could go additional.”
Haines claimed Miss Sullivan threatened to accuse him of rape and he didn’t need his companion and household to search out out.
“His account of her threatening to inform individuals what he had achieved to her does the truth is have a component based mostly in reality about it,” the decide stated.
“Mr Haines had a fantastic deal to lose. Causes similar to these for my part clarify why he strangled Lily to be able to stop her telling individuals he had tried to get her to go additional than she was prepared.”
William Hughes QC, prosecuting, had argued that Haines “confirmed sexual curiosity in Lily” from the time he met her within the venue, regardless of being “warned off greater than as soon as” by buddies.
The court docket heard how Haines admitted they kissed within the alleyway the place her jacket, cell phone and tobacco had been later discovered.
{The teenager}’s name to her mom at 2.47am had been minimize off mid-sentence and Mr Hughes stated it was the Crown’s perception that “Lily was attacked at that time”.
He additionally stated that it was their case that Miss Sullivan’s cream-coloured lace crop high had been eliminated “forcibly” earlier than she was pushed within the water.
John Hipkin QC, defending, stated there was no forensic proof of a sexual contact between the pair or proof the highest had been torn from her physique because it remained intact.
Haines claims he tried to tug Miss Sullivan out of the water, however the decide rejected this saying he had made no makes an attempt to avoid wasting her.
The defendant, who was sporting a white shirt and had a shaved head, held a hand to his head and appeared up on the ceiling because the decide spoke.
Haines, of Flemish Courtroom, Lamphey, will likely be sentenced on Friday.
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