Heir to £230m pie fortune charged with murder of best friend
AN heir to a £230million pie company fortune has been accused of stabbing his housemate to death.
Dylan Thomas, 23, was charged with murder after William Bush was found with serious knife injuries on Christmas Eve.
Thomas is the grandson of Sir Gilbert Stanley Thomas – the tycoon behind a business empire that included Peter’s Pies.
He and Mr Bush, who was also 23, were said to have been best friends and had both gone to the same private school.
They later moved in together, sharing a terraced house which was owned by Thomas’s grandparents.
Thomas, a computer programmer, moved into the house near Llandaff Cathedral in Cardiff two years ago with his dog.
Property surveyor Mr Bush, who is thought to be from Brecon, joined him soon afterwards. His body was found in a car park near the cathedral on the morning of December 24.
Following his death, Mr Bush’s family said in a statement: ‘Our beloved Will was taken away from us in such a cruel and indescribable way. Will was such a loyal, funny and caring son, brother and boyfriend.
‘We are absolutely devastated and as a family request that our privacy is respected at this difficult time.’
Thomas is due to appear in court next month. He had been set to appear at Cardiff Crown Court on January 2, but refused to enter the dock and was remanded in custody in his absence. He is due to appear again on February 2.
He and Mr Bush had attended the private Christ College in Brecon, where both were said to be keen rugby players, The Sun reported.
Multi- millionaire Sir Stanley, 82, received a knighthood in 2006 for his services to business.
Originally from Merthyr Tydfil, his father – also called Stanley Thomas – began selling meat pies in the Valleys in the 1950s.
Sir Stanley and his brother Peter took over the running of the pie business, Peter’s Savoury Products, when their father retired in 1986.
The company was later sold to the conglomerate Grand Metropolitan in 1988 for £75million.
The Thomas family’s commercial interest in the business ended there, but it went on to change ownership a number of times and had a
‘Taken away from us’
turnover of some £57million last year.
The family also held a fifth share of the TBI group, which at one time owned Cardiff International and a number of other airports.
In 2004, the sale of the group to Spanish company Abertis made the family more than £100million.
Sir Stanley has also invested in his hometown’s rugby club and been involved with multiple charities.