Thug gets 9 years for manslaughter and 4 more for heroin:
HEROIN DEALER GETS 9 YEARS FOR BRUTAL KILLING OF GRANDAD, 58
A48-YEAR-OLD drug dealer who beat up and killed a “loving and sweet” grandfather in what a judge said appeared to be an “explosive loss of temper” was jailed for nine years last week.
Gareth Wyn Jones, of Lon Deg, Holyhead, Anglesey, admitted manslaughter. But he must also serve another four years consecutively after he pleaded guilty to conspiring to supply heroin, too.
Caernarfon crown court heard how David Jones, 58, known as “DJ”, suffered a sustained beating to his head at the home of his ex-partner Jane Mitchell, 44, in Thomas Street, Holyhead.
Prosecutor David Elias QC said he had multiple fractures to his jaw and bleeding around the brain.
Mr Jones died two days later on November 19 after being taken to a neurological unit at a hospital at Stoke-on-Trent.
The QC said there was no witness evidence about what happened inside the Thomas Street property.
When he staggered home to his new partner Mandy Pritchard, Mr Jones was struggling to breathe but said he had been kicked and punched.
The defendant Jones told police his victim had argued with Mitchell over the death of their daughter Jade.
He told an acquaintance he gave David Jones “a good hiding.”
Mr Elias said the victim was still grieving for his late daughter when he was killed.
Another daughter Kimberley Jones said he was the “life and soul and rock” of the family and “everyone’s best friend.”
He was a good decorator and artist.
“I have a hole in my heart,” she declared in a victim impact statement.
Mandy Pritchard said: “My whole world has been turned upside down. He was the most loving, sweet man.”
The prosecution said police found heroin worth more than £60,000 after searching Gareth Wyn Jones’s home.
Defence QC Gordon Cole said his client accepted responsibility for the injuries to the victim who had drunk a substantial amount of alcohol.
The defendant was “looking after” the drugs.
Judge Rhys Rowlands said “considerable force” had been used against David Jones who had left the house badly injured and staggered to his new partner’s home.
The judge said only those present knew exactly what had taken place but there had been a disagreement which turned violent. The judge said: “It was a wholly needless, tragic death.” Mitchell (above), a qualified veterinary nurse who’d been a heavy heroin user, was jailed for three years after admitting the drug plot offence.